Nicaragua Gives Nationality To Fugitive Ex El Salvador President

Managua, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Jul, 2021 ) :Fugitive former El Salvador president Salvador Sanchez Ceren has been granted Nicaraguan nationality, the official La Gaceta state-controlled newspaper said on Friday.

The leftist politician, who led the country from 2014 to 2019, has been charged with embezzling state funds during the preceding five years, when he was vice-president.

El Salvador issued an international arrest warrant Wednesday for Sanchez Ceren, who is believed to have been in Nicaragua since leaving his home country in December.

"Nicaraguan nationality has been authorized for the citizen Salvador Sanchez Ceren, originally from El Salvador," said a ruling by the migration ministry and published in La Gaceta.

Sanchez Ceren's wife Rosa Margarita Villalta and his daughter Claudia Lissete Sanchez Villalta have also been granted Nicaraguan nationality.

In 2019, the Central American country handed out nationality to another leftist former El Salvador president, Mauricio Funes, who is likewise accused of corruption and was president during the period of alleged embezzlement.

Nicaragua is governed by the leftist government of former guerrilla Daniel Ortega. Both Sanchez Ceren and Funes are members of the leftist FMLN party, a former guerilla group.

The FMLN has accused El Salvador President Nayib Bukele of "political persecution" over the corruption investigations.

Last week, El Salvador arrested five former ministers and deputy ministers from the Funes administration as part of the corruption probe.