U.S. Treasury: El Salvador government negotiated with gangs

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The authorities of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele secretly negotiated a truce with leaders of the country’s almighty thoroughfare gangs, the U.S. Treasury announced Wednesday.

The U.S authorities alleges Bukele’s authorities bought the gangs’ enactment with fiscal benefits and privileges for their imprisoned leaders including prostitutes and compartment phones. The explosive accusation cuts to the bosom of 1 of Bukele’s astir highly touted successes successful office: a plunge successful the country’s execution rate.

Bukele’s bureau did not instantly respond to a petition for comment, but the president responded sarcastically via Twitter. “Cell phones and prostitutes successful the prisons? Money to the gangs? When did that happen? Didn’t they adjacent cheque the date? How tin they enactment retired a specified an evident prevarication without anyone questioning them?”

Bukele vehemently denied the accusation erstwhile it was reported successful August 2020 by the section quality tract El Faro. And connected Wednesday, helium alluded to a pack truce negotiated by a erstwhile medication for which respective erstwhile officials are being prosecuted.

The U.S. Treasury announcement came arsenic it designated 2 officials from Bukele’s authorities for fiscal sanctions.

In 2020, Bukele’s medication ‘’provided fiscal incentives to Salvadoran gangs MS-13 and 18th Street Gang (Barrio 18) to guarantee that incidents of pack unit and the fig of confirmed homicides remained low,” the Treasury connection said. “Over the people of these negotiations with Luna and Marroquin, pack enactment besides agreed to supply governmental enactment to the Nuevas Ideas governmental enactment successful upcoming elections.”

Bukele’s New Ideas enactment won legislative elections earlier this twelvemonth successful a landslide, giving it power of El Salvador’s congress.

The 2 officials who negotiated straight with the pack leaders were Osiris Luna Meza, main of the Salvadoran Penal System and Vice Minister of Justice and Public Security, and Carlos Amilcar Marroquin Chica, president of the Social Fabric Reconstruction Unit.

The announcement comes arsenic a fig of erstwhile officials from erstwhile administrations are being prosecuted for negotiating a akin pact with the gangs.

Former Attorney General Raul Melara said helium would analyse the El Faro study astatine the time, but erstwhile Bukele’s enactment took implicit congress, the caller lawmakers ousted Melara and replaced him with idiosyncratic linked to Bukele’s administration.

The U.S. Treasury said that an probe into authorities officials and pack leaders revealed the concealed negotiations. Luna and Marroquin allegedly “led, facilitated and organized a fig of concealed meetings involving incarcerated pack leaders, successful which known pack members were allowed to participate the situation facilities and conscionable with elder pack leadership.”

In summation to fiscal benefits for the pack members, incarcerated leaders received peculiar attraction successful the prisons, including entree to mobile phones and prostitutes. It said Luna besides negotiated enactment from MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs for Bukele’s nationalist quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Luna and his mother, Alma Yanira Meza Olivares, besides allegedly enactment successful question a strategy to embezzle millions of dollars from the situation strategy and were stealing pandemic alleviation supplies and past re-selling them to the government. Meza was besides designated.

The designations Wednesday mean that immoderate assets Luna and Marroquin person successful the United States are blocked and U.S. citizens are prohibited from immoderate transactions with Luna and Marroquin.

The revelations are definite to rise tensions betwixt Bukele and the Biden administration. After the caller legislature removed the lawyer wide and the justices of the law enclosure of the Supreme Court successful May, the U.S. authorities expressed interest implicit the absorption of the country.

The U.S. Agency for International Development announced it would displacement assistance from authorities agencies successful El Salvador to non-governmental organizations. The caput of that agency, Samantha Power, past went to El Salvador and gave a code astir the fragility of democracy.

The caller lawyer wide successful June announced the authorities was cancelling the Organization of American States anti-corruption ngo successful El Salvador.

In May and July, the U.S. authorities published lists of allegedly corrupt officials successful Central America that included the sanction of Bukele’s Chief of Staff Carolina Recinos.

Last month, the United States’ apical diplomat successful El Salvador announced that she was leaving the post, adding that Bukele’s authorities “is showing nary interest” successful improving the bilateral relationship.

Bukele enjoys highly precocious popularity. He stepped into a governmental vacuum near by discredited accepted parties from the near and close who had near a bequest of corruption.