SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – A U.S. State Department report on Central American officials “credibly alleged” to be corrupt includes a member of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s cabinet and a former minister, according to an extract of the document leaked yesterday.
A U.S. congressional aide told Reuters that the document circulating in El Salvador media was accurate. The report also includes two opposition figures and a lawmaker in Bukele’s alliance.
The document emerged less than a week after the U.S. special envoy for Central America, Ricardo Zuniga, met with Bukele amid a push from Washington to curb corruption, lack of judicial and weak rule of law in the region.
Zuniga said his visit aimed to express Washington’s disapproval of Bukele’s recent removal of top judges and the attorney general as unconstitutional.
Bukele appeared scornful of the State Department list, noting in a post on Twitter that it did not include any members of the conservative opposition party ARENA.
When asked about the matter, the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador said the report had been sent from the State Department to Congress.
The document seen by Reuters describes the list of lawmakers and officials as “credibly alleged to have committed or facilitated corruption or narcotics trafficking.”
