Citizen security and social peace will continue with a new extension of the emergency regime

The Special Commission to investigate the delivery of bonuses from public funds of the Presidential House to officials, natural persons or legal entities of previous governments, determined that the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic must continue the investigation of those who received remunerations from 1989 to 2019.

Bonuses were a disastrous practice that was customary in the ARENA and FMLN governments, with which they diverted resources from the people to distribute them among their leaders.

The working group met and submitted its final report. The representative of Nuevas Ideas, William Soriano, highlighted among the findings that tax evasion, money and asset laundering, and illicit enrichment may constitute crimes.

“The Special Commission issued two notices to the FGR: the first on August 30 and the second on September 3, 2021, so that said entity can proceed to initiate a process against those responsible for the events,” Soriano mentioned.

In addition, Soriano detailed that, thanks to the two notices filed at the work table in 2021, the fiscal entity began the investigations to proceed, in 2024, with the extinction of domain against former president Alfredo Cristiani, one of the former officials involved. in said corruption mechanism.

After learning of the report, the deputy president of the Legislative Assembly, Ernesto Castro, demanded that the corruption cases of previous administrations be investigated: “It has been proven that the old political class used the funds of the secret item to prescribe a payment additional to what corresponded to them”, which implies the commission of possible crimes.

“The commission interviewed officials who justified these actions: Alfredo Cristiani, Ana Vilma de Escobar, Elías Antonio Saca, Eugenio Chicas and many more. During their appearance, they could not explain this illegal and corrupt practice. Some preferred to escape rather than show their faces,” Castro highlighted.

Deputy Jorge Castro said that the commission also established three modes of operation in previous governments, and that they began in the Presidential House with salary leveling or bonuses, a modus operandi that paid other officials, deputies and political parties and a third to control to the pursuers of justice such as the Court of Accounts and the Prosecutor’s Office.

“The bonuses were used to buy governance that only favored the powerful groups of that time. This was done in complicity with State institutions that were supposed to ensure the proper use of public resources. Now, this has changed and the people are the ones who provide governance,” said the deputy.

Likewise, Deputy Walter Coto pointed out that the investigation carried out within the Commission has allowed us to establish that there is evidence that indicates the commission of criminal acts.

He emphasized that the corruption of past administrations was entrenched for years, transferring practices such as bonuses from government to government.

“This commission had its fruits and the population can see them, they began to persecute those corrupt people who embezzled funds at that time. This is thanks to the articulated work that we have done to seek to respond to the call of the population on the issue of corruption,” Coto mentioned.

Furthermore, his colleague Marcela Pineda explained that it was not until Nayib Bukele assumed the presidency and the new Legislative Assembly was established that the corruption mechanism called “surplus” collapsed, which is why the commission dedicated itself to investigating what was happening with the power groups.

“The task was not easy, but we took it on bravely. Without scruples and without fear, those accused went to the presidential house to collect envelopes labeled with more than $5,000 and kept them, thinking that no one would ever dare to cut off that mechanism of corruption,” the parliamentarian highlighted.

The deputies concluded that the Prosecutor’s Office must continue the investigation of the bonuses case to determine the civil and criminal responsibilities of those involved in the corruption mechanism, called bonuses.

What are bonuses?

The word “bonus” means a remuneration or allowance that is added to the fixed salary.

Between 1989 and 2019, the ARENA and FMLN governments devised a mechanism of embezzlement and corruption with which they distributed privileges and kept the farce of democracy and the rule of law in place, hiding their true actions.

This illegal system allowed several former officials from past administrations to receive different sums of money in addition to the salary they had.

The delivery of the funds was done behind the back of the Ministry of Finance and was financed with the resources that were allocated to the Presidential House for “reserved expenses”, of which no records were left.

Creation of the special commission

On July 5, 2021, the President of the Legislative Assembly, Ernesto Castro, proposed to the Political Commission to create the Special Commission to investigate the delivery of bonuses in previous governments.

The initiative was based on articles 131 and 132 of the Constitution of the Republic, which establish that this type of working groups are to investigate issues of national interest.

In the 11th ordinary plenary session, the proposal was approved by the legislative plenary session; The Special Commission was created to investigate the delivery of bonuses and its members were sworn in.

This is how the working group began investigations into the delivery of bonuses from public funds of the Presidential House to officials, natural or legal persons of previous governments.

“It is necessary for this Legislative Assembly to investigate the activities of previous governments, related to granting bonuses to officials, hiding the real remuneration they received apart from the nominal salary,” President Castro expressed at the time.

According to the parliamentarian, the bonus that former officials received was a cash supplement that was paid outside of the ordinary payroll, so there was no official and public record of how much was spent on this item.

These types of practices were described by the new Legislative Assembly as a “symbol of the corruption” that existed for decades in El Salvador.

Two former rulers appeared before the commission

As part of its work, the special commission questioned more than 20 former officials of the ARENA and FMLN governments.

Among those mentioned were the former presidents of the Republic Alfredo Cristiani and Antonio Saca, both of whom governed under the banner of the right-wing party.

In addition, Cristiani’s private secretary, Arturo Claudio Enea Tona, and Élmer Charlaix, Saca’s former collaborator, were called to testify. The last two are currently serving a prison sentence in the “La Esperanza” penitentiary center, in San Salvador, for corruption crimes.

On July 21, 2021, Cristiani appeared before the special commission at 9:00 in the morning; his former private secretary, at 11:00 in the morning.

While Saca and Charlaix appeared that same day, but during the afternoon hours: 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm, respectively.

The former leaders were summoned by the commission because, during the investigation, there were “strange” circumstances that caught the attention of legislators. Among them the loss of documents that accredited the delivery of additional money to the labor salary.

The embezzlement from the State coffers was enormous. The president of the special commission, Jorge Castro, reported at the time that more than 600 officials from the ARENA and FMLN governments received bonuses and were paid up to $40,000 per month under this concept.

The 58 former officials related to corruption

Of the 600 former officials who received the bonuses illegally, these 58 political figures were mentioned within the commission. The position they held and the amount of money each received were also revealed:

• René Mario Figueroa, Minister of the Interior, $20 thousand

• Luis Mario Rodríguez, secretary for Legislative and Legal Affairs. He initially received $8 thousand, later it increased to $11 thousand. He requested authorization to participate in a doctorate at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and financial support for tuition that amounted to $3,400 dollars. He had a nominal salary of $2,500

• Julio Rank, Secretary of Communications, $10 thousand

• Ana Ligia Mixco, National Secretary of the Family, $10 thousand

• Eduardo Zablah, technical secretary of the Presidency, $8 thousand

• César David Funes, Secretary of Youth, $10 thousand

• Carlos Antonio Rosales, private secretary, $10 thousand

• Guillermo López, secretary for international trade and financial affairs, $10 thousand

• Flavio Villacorta, executive director of the State Intelligence Agency, $10 thousand

• Manuel Castillo, executive director of the State Intelligence Agency, $10 thousand

• Ana Evelin Jacir de Lovo, commissioner for the Consumer Protection Agency, $10 thousand

• Carmen Elena Bazán de Sol, presidential commissioner for Agriculture, $10 thousand

• Gloria Salguero Gross, presidential commissioner for governance, $10 thousand

• Conrado López Andreu, presidential commissioner for Central American integration, $10 thousand

• Cecilia Gallardo de Cano, national coordinator of the social area, $12 thousand

• Francisco Laínez, Minister of Foreign Affairs, $11 thousand

• Eduardo Cálix, vice minister of Foreign Affairs, integration and economic promotion, $5 thousand

• Margarita Escobar, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Salvadorans Abroad, $7 thousand

• Marisol Argueta, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Salvadorans Abroad, $10 thousand

• Luis Ernesto Martínez Brito, vice minister of Foreign Affairs for Salvadorans abroad, $3 thousand

• Silvia Aguilar, Minister of the Interior, $5 thousand

• Juan Miguel Bolaños, Minister of the Interior, $3 thousand

• Rodrigo Ávila, vice minister of Citizen Security, $5 thousand

• Ástor Escalante, Vice Minister of Citizen Security, $3 thousand

• José Belarmino López Suárez, Minister of Finance, $10 thousand

• William Jacobo Hándal, Minister of Finance, $10 thousand

• Yolanda Mayora de Gaviria, Minister of Economy, $7 thousand

• Blanca Imelda Jaco de Magaña, vice minister of Commerce and Industry, $8 thousand

• Ricardo Esmahan d’ Abuisson, Minister of Economy, $7 thousand

• Darlyn Xiomara Meza, Minister of Education, $9 thousand

• José Luis Guzmán, vice minister of Education, $5,700

• Carlos Benjamín Orozco, vice minister of Education, $4 thousand

• José Roberto Espinal Escobar, Minister of Labor, $7 thousand

• Gerardo Suvillaga, Vice Minister of Labor, $5 thousand

• Carmen Elisa Sosa de Callejas, Vice Minister of Labor, $2,500

• Mario Ernesto Salaverría, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, $7 thousand

• José Emilio Saudi Hasbún, vice minister of Agriculture and Livestock, $4 thousand

• David Gutiérrez, Minister of Public Works, $10 thousand

• Jorge Nieto, Minister of Public Works, $10 thousand

• Sigifredo Ochoa Gómez, Vice Minister of Public Works, $5 thousand

• René Mauricio Chavarría Portillo, Vice Minister of Transportation, $3 thousand

• Luis Felipe Moreno Carmona, vice minister of Transportation, $4 thousand

• José René Ernesto Escolán, vice minister of Housing and Urban Development, $7 thousand

• Hugo César Barrera, Minister of the Environment, $7 thousand

• Luis Cardenal, Minister of Tourism, $10 thousand

• Rubén Alonso Rochi, Minister of Tourism, $7,000

• Miguel Salaverría Alcaine, CEPA president, $10 thousand

• Juan José Llort Choussy, CEPA president, $10 thousand

• Hugo Barrera, CEPA president, $7 thousand

• Albino Román, CEPA president, $10 thousand

• Andrés Rovira, president of the Social Investment Fund for Local Development of El Salvador, $10 thousand

• Miriam Eleana Reyna, National Registry of Natural Persons (RNPN), $3 thousand

• Luis Enrique Oñate Muyshondt, president of the Social Housing Fund (FSV), $3 thousand

• Federico Hernández Aguilar, president of the National Council for Culture and Art, $1,500

• Jorge Hernández, president of the National Sports Institute, $5 thousand

• Miguel Ángel Salume, president of CEL, $10 thousand

• Gino Rolando Bettaglio, president of the Salvadoran Investment Corporation, $4 thousand

• César Daniel Funes Durán, ANDA, $10 thousand

The commission also summoned Margarita de Escobar, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and ARENA deputy, and Rolando Alvarenga – former secretary of legal affairs of the presidency with Francisco Flores, but neither appeared.

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