The Government of the United States pointed out yesterday Wednesday for corruption to 60 officials and former government officials from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, as well as judges and prosecutors from those countries.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused these people in a statement of “significant corruption”, of seeking to obstruct investigations in this regard and of undermining the democratic processes and institutions of their countries.
For this reason, Blinken affirmed that they contribute to “irregular migration and the destabilization of societies”.
the corrupt
The individuals were included in what is known as “Engel list” of corrupt and anti-democratic actorswho will be denied entry to the US and will not be able to obtain visas to travel to this country.
Unlike last year’s list, where there were no Nicaraguans, the US this year included 23 judges and prosecutors of Nicaragua.
There’s also 6 Salvadorans, 16 Guatemalans and 15 Hondurans.
Among the Nicaraguans are prosecutors Yubelca del Carmen Pérez Alvarado, Jorge Luis Arias Jarquín, Marling de Jesús Castro Rodríguez and Andrea del Carmen Salas, from the Public Ministry in Managua; as well as Perla de los Ángeles Baca, chief prosecutor of the department of Chinandega, and Luis Alberto Mena Gámez, prosecutor of Nueva Segovia. From Honduras, the US has appointed, among others, the Vice President of Congress, Rasel Antonio Tomé Flores; Deputy Edgardo Antonio Casaña Mejía; the former director of the National Police Juan Carlos “El Tigre” Bonilla Valladares, and the former Minister of Health Javier Rodolfo Pastor Vásquez.
Some of the Guatemalans mentioned are the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice Nery Osvaldo Medina Méndez and Vitalina Orellana y Orellana; the head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (Feci), Rafael Curruchiche, and the director of the Victims’ Institute, Alejandra Carrillo.
From El Salvador, the US has included former Public Security Minister René Mario Figueroa Figueroa and his wife, Cecilia Coronada Alvarenga de Figueroa; the mayor of San Miguel, José Wilfredo Salgado García; the legal adviser to the Presidency Francisco Javier Argueta Gómez and the presidential press secretary José Ernesto Sanabria.
The registry of names was released in compliance with the “Enhanced Engagement Act between the United States and the Northern Triangle”, approved in December 2020 and promoted by the now former Democratic congressman Eliot Engel and it is the second list of this type that disseminates the US Government.
Blinken said in his note that the “citizens of Central America deserve and expect governments that respect their human rights, comply with the law and create the conditions for individuals and communities to flourish.”
“USA. will continue to collaborate with officials and organizations that show dedication to fighting corruption and strengthening democratic governance.”
Eliot Engel
The ‘Engel List’ emerged in 2019 at the initiative of the former Democratic congressman from New York, Eliot Engel.
Engel proposed legislation to “support the people of Central America and strengthen the national security of the United States by addressing the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras,” reads the summary of the law. Since the approval of the legislation by the plenary session of Congress on December 22, 2020, it falls to the Secretary of State and the machinery of the State Department to detail the investigations to comply with the mandate to include those figures in the three countries linked to acts of corruption or attacks on democracy.