US Congress wants investigation of FMLN leader
José Luis Merino Fourteen members of the US Congress, including Republicans and Democrats, have signed a letter asking the US Treasury Department to open an investigation into the finances of top FMLN party official José Luis Merino: Today, we are writing to request that you use your authority under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act to investigate the US-linked banking activities of Salvadoran citizen, José Luis Merino, known also by his nom de guerre Ramiro Vásquez, Mr. Merino is a senior member of El Salvador's governing party [whose] reported long-standing associations with transnational organized criminal networks are the subject of US criminal investigations for cocaine trafficking and money laundering, Multiple open source reports indicate that financial structures controlled by Mr. Merino, currently the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, have acquired hundreds of millions of dollars in unexplained wealth while helping the FARC guerrillas in Colombia, ...