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Rodolfo Delgado was reelected this Wednesday, December 22, as attorney general of El Salvador amid criticism from detractors and the opposition, who question the independence that his position deserves. The re-election also caused tensions between the United States Government and El Salvador, to the point of generating the resignation of Washington’s main diplomat in the Central American country, Jean Manes.
The party led by the millennial president Nayib Bukele, New Ideas (NI) together with the Great Alliance for National Unity (GANA) and other allies of the ruling party, cast 66 votes in favor of the questioned official remaining in office until 2025 .
“We are going to fulfill the Salvadoran people by giving them an elected prosecutor with participation, publicity and transparency, that is clear. We will hold the election on time and in the proper manner, not like before, which took time to distribute political quotas ”, promised the deputy Caleb Navarro during the parliamentary session.
But Claudia Ortiz, an opposition deputy, declared that the reelected official “does not have the main characteristic that should be endowed with this type of official, which is independence.”
Rodolfo Delgado is questioned for his rapid rise in Salvadoran politics, at the hands of officials linked to the Bukele administration.
Rapid ascent
Delgado became a civil servant when he was appointed prosecutor in San Vicente, and according to local media, his career is linked to Gustavo Villatoro, Minister of Security in the Government of Nayib Bukele.
Delgado subsequently became El Salvador’s attorney general in May 2021, following a questioned dismissal of the former prosecutor, Rogelio Rivas, on March 26. His promotion was supported by the ruling majority that controls Bukele without analyzing other candidates.
“That speaks to us, without a doubt, that there were previous conversations and agreements with the majority fractions of this Legislative Assembly and, therefore, it is very difficult to attest that there is such an important characteristic of independence,” recalled the deputy Ortiz.
In a press conference, without questioning from journalists, the reelected prosecutor promised to “modernize the investigation processes” and that there will be no “selective justice” in El Salvador. But it did not clarify whether it will investigate Bukele government officials who were sanctioned by the United States for alleged acts of corruption and negotiating with gangs.
The official, who stood out for being a lawyer to the current head of the National Civil Police, Mauricio Arriza, and an advisor to a state bank, closed an agreement with the International Commission Against Impunity in El Salvador, Cicies, of the Organization of American States , OEA.
The Cicies opened an investigation against the Bukele government for alleged misuse of public funds destined to attend the emergency caused by the pandemic. But the process opened with the former prosecutor, now the direction of the investigations is unknown.
The full of this @AssemblySV appointed Rodolfo Delgado to lead the @FGR_SV during the period 2022-2025. Thus we finalize an absolutely transparent process, vis-à-vis the population.
We have fulfilled in time and in form. pic.twitter.com/qxrw0G4JgH
– Ernesto Castro (@ECastroES) December 22, 2021
International tension
Delgado’s reelection strained relations between the United States government and El Salvador. The United States pointed to the alleged negotiations between the Bukele administration officials and Salvadoran gangs to reduce violence in the Central American country, prompting Bukele to show alleged conversations on WhatsApp with the then main US diplomat in El Salvador, Jean Manes.
Bukele affirms that, in his last meeting with Manes, the diplomat asked him for the release of the former mayor of San Salvador, Ernesto Muyshondt, and the non-reelection of Delgado.
Bukele responded that “he believed that Rodolfo Delgado had done a good job so far, as attorney general” and that he would not interfere if the Legislative Assembly decided to re-elect him. Manes announced that he would leave office and said that Bukele “shows no interest” in improving the relationship between the two governments.
With EFE
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