Nicaragua grants nationality to fugitive ex-president of El Salvador, Sánchez Cerén

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government of Nicaragua granted nationality to the former president of El Salvador, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a fugitive from justice in his country for corruption offenses, according to the official newspaper La Gaceta published on Friday.

“Nicaraguan nationality is granted to citizen Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a native of El Salvador” who has complied with the requirements and formalities established in the Political Constitution of Nicaragua, states the resolution of Migration, and Foreign Affairs published in La Gaceta.

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The resolution in separate acts also includes his wife Rosa Margarita Villalta and his daughter Claudia Lissete Sánchez Villalta, according to the resolution issued on July 29 and signed by the Minister of the Interior Amelia Coronel.

The Salvadoran justice system issued an international arrest warrant on Wednesday against former President Sánchez Céren (2014-2019) and other administration officials for crimes committed against the Salvadoran state.

The former Salvadoran governor is the second politician from that country to receive Nicaraguan nationality after the same was granted in 2019 to former president Mauricio Funes, both from the former Farabundo Martí Liberation Front (FMLN-left) guerrilla.

The FMLN is a long-time ally of the also ex-guerrilla Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN-left), which overthrew the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in 1979.

Sandinista President Daniel Ortega governed the country from 1979-1990, returned to power in 2007, where he remains after two consecutive reelections, the last one with his wife Rosario Murillo, as vice-president.

The Nicaraguan Constitution prohibits the extradition of its nationals.

The presence of Sanchez Ceren in Nicaragua, a political ally of Ortega, was kept in reserve by the authorities. However, from El Salvador, it was reported that the former president had fled to that destination.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter last week that Sanchez Ceren was officially a fugitive from justice. “By the way, he left our country via land border in December 2020 and never returned.”

INTERPOL SEARCH

On Wednesday, a Salvadoran court issued an international arrest warrant for Sánchez Cerén and four other former officials for their alleged involvement in a case of illicit enrichment and money laundering.

The judge “has decided to send an official request to Interpol” so that he can be located and brought to justice, said prosecutor Maricela Velásquez.

The crimes were allegedly committed during the first government of the former FMLN guerrilla led by Mauricio Funes. Sánchez Cerén was vice-president and under investigation for alleged embezzlement of public funds.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Sánchez Cerén allegedly received US$530,000 in irregular salaries when he was vice-president.

Bukele had announced at the beginning of his term, in June 2019, his intention to extradite Funes in the first 100 days of his administration.

But Funes, who fled to Nicaragua in 2016, responded on Twitter: “Neither today nor in the first 100 days of his (Bukele’s) government, nor in years, will extradition be possible,” he said.