SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – The United States tried and failed to convince El Salvador to set up an international commission to fight corruption like the one that helped bring down the president of neighboring Guatemala, a Salvadoran government official said.
Instead, the U.S. government’s aid agency (USAID) will renew a less powerful anti-corruption program in the Central American nation without broad investigative powers, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The United States early this year offered $1 billion in new aid to help revitalize Central America – one of the world’s poorest and most violent regions – and stem the flood of child migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
But how much money they receive will likely depend in some measure on their willingness to battle corruption.
The U.N.-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) was instrumental in gathering evidence showing that President Otto Perez was part of a customs racket.
The probe led to Perez’s resignation and arrest last month, although he has denied the allegations against him.
His fall triggered calls for similar investigative units in other Central American nations and the CICIG’s head, Ivan Velasquez, has said it is an “exportable” model.
Still, the prospect of facing the same fate as Perez has made neighboring governments wary of setting up a similar body.
In July, Thomas Shannon, counselor to the U.S. State Department, met Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren and suggested the country establish its own U.N.-backed anti-corruption body.
“He spoke about the possibility of an International Commission Against Impunity in El Salvador,” said Marcos Rodriguez, the country’s secretary for citizen participation, transparency and anti-corruption.
“We will analyze it, but for the time being we don’t need it … The judicial powers, the attorney general’s office, have said the same,” said Rodriguez, who attended the meeting.
He said Washington had not applied any pressure to force El Salvador to set up the U.N.-backed commission.
