Nicaragua Grants FMLN Ex-President Sánchez Cerén Citizenship

The former president of El Salvador, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, accused in his country of money laundering and embezzlement, was nationalized as a Nicaraguan citizen by the government of Daniel Ortega, as published in the edition of this Friday, July 30 of La Gaceta, official newspaper of the State of Nicaragua.

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The same nationality was also granted to his wife, Rosa Margarita Villalta; his daughter, Claudia Lissette Sánchez Villalta, and his grandson, Juan Carlos Guardado Sánchez. The latter was removed from a public position of "in charge of fixed assets" in 2019 when the government of Nayib Bukele began in El Salvador.

Sánchez Cerén, president from 2014 to 2019, is being investigated when he was in the position of vice president in the government of Mauricio Funes. On Wednesday, July 28, it was learned that a judge in El Salvador ordered the international search and capture of former president Sánchez Cerén, who is considered a fugitive from justice by that country and is being prosecuted for the crimes of money laundering and embezzlement. The judge issued a warrant to Interpol to locate and capture the former president.

According to the information spread by the media, Sánchez Cerén, is sought by the justice system of his country in the framework of the investigation of the 'Public Plundering' case, which covers the 2009 to 2014 period, during the Funes administration, time in which the Legislative Assembly approved 80 million dollars for the Presidential House for the five years of Government, but finally ended up being 351 million dollars in transfers of funds made by the former Minister of Finance without authorization of the Legislative branch. According to the Attorney General's Office, the looted money was used to finance "extra salaries and bonuses outside the law."

Sánchez Cerén has also been accused by several journalistic publications of having contributed to feed a system of corruption set up by the ARENA and FMLN parties during their presidential terms, with which they diverted millions of dollars from the State to bank accounts related to both political institutions.

Nicaragua also gave asylum to the former president of El Salvador and also a fugitive from justice, Mauricio Funes, who has six arrest warrants for various acts of corruption committed during his presidential term from 2009 to 2014.

Last June 12, the Press Secretary of Nayib Bukele's government, Ernesto Sanabria, assured that Sánchez Cerén is in Nicaragua, as is former president Mauricio Funes, accused of corruption and to whom Daniel Ortega also granted Nicaraguan nationality in July 2019.

In addition, the Salvadoran digital newspaper, Contrapunto, reported that according to migration authorities of El Salvador, Sánchez Cerén left by land on December 5, 2020 to Nicaraguan soil.