Caribbean & Central America - May 2014 (ISSN 1741-4458)

Interpol issued an international request to arrest former president Francisco Flores (1999-2004) on 7 May. On the face of it the pursuit of Flores looks like it could damage attempts by president-elect Salvador Sánchez Cerén, of the left-wing Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), to hold talks with the right-wing opposition Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Arena) to pave the way for cooperation on a series of policy initiatives in the legislative assembly. What is really jeopardising talks, however, is not Flores (a powerful figure within Arena until his recent disgrace but now discarded by the party), but the possible impeachment of two Arena deputies.

Interpol responded to formal charges of embezzlement, illicit enrichment and disobedience brought against Flores by a San Salvador judge. The first two charges relate to multi-million-dollar donations received by Flores while he was in power from his Taiwanese peer which were, at least ostensibly, meant for post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in 2001, combating drug trafficking and other things. The third charge refers to Flores’s sudden decision to stop appearing before a special legislative commission investigating the matter in February.

No other former president has ever been charged with corruption or any other crime in El Salvador, which possibly explains why in his two appearances before the commission. Flores was remarkably candid about the complete lack of transparency and accountability surrounding his handling of the donations from Taiwan, which he admitted he had not received through any cooperation accord, even being vague about how much he had received: “some US$15m to US$20m”. Flores did say that he never put donations in his personal bank accounts in Costa Rica, the US and The Bahamas. The Costa Rican attorney general, Jorge Chavarría, has promised full cooperation in freezing accounts and passing on information related to the case.

Since Flores absconded over two months ago, his whereabouts have been unknown, although the head of the legislative assembly, Sigfrido Reyes, claimed on 1 May to have received intelligence that Flores was hiding out in Panama at a luxury beach house belonging to former Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso (1999-2004), a personal friend who was in power at the same time as Flores.

Impeachment of Arena deputies

While the Flores case has captured headlines at home and abroad, another legal case involving the potential impeachment of two Arena deputies has only attracted interest from the local media. Yet from a domestic political perspective it could end up being more important. On 4 March President Mauricio Funes accused Arena deputies, Roberto d’Aubuisson and Ana Vilma de Escobar, of defamation and calumny for requesting that the attorney general’s office investigate whether he crashed a Ferrari into a tree early on 18 February in San Salvador under the influence of alcohol - the same day Funes fractured his hip and had to undergo surgery. Funes vehemently denied having driven the Ferrari let alone drink-driving and sought the impeachment of the deputies.

Two legislative commissions will shortly present their findings for the full assembly to vote on whether to impeach the deputies. Arena’s president, Jorge Velado, said the impeachment proceedings conspired against a dialogue process being sought by the incoming FMLN government. Velado pointedly suspended a meeting with vice-president-elect Óscar Ortiz and FMLN bigwigs in early May.

• Political asylum

President Mauricio Funes made an appeal to the Panamanian government led by President Ricardo Martinelli on 3 May not to grant former president Francisco Flores (1999-2004) political asylum, arguing that Flores was “not a political target” but had to face charges of serious wrongdoing in El Salvador. Time is not on Funes’s side. Unless Flores is arrested and arraigned before 31 May, the statute of limitations will expire. Funes hands over power the following day.