Former Salvadoran president Funes is in ‘delicate’ health situation in Nicaragua
The leftist, accused of corruption in his country, received the protection of Daniel Ortega's dictatorship to avoid facing Salvadoran justice.
File photo of former leftist president Mauricio Funes.
Former Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, 65, is in a "delicate" health situation in Nicaragua, where he fled in 2016 after being accused in his country of corruption crimes, the Nicaraguan regime reported Tuesday.
"He is currently suffering from a delicate health situation" that "unfortunately is extremely serious," the Nicaraguan Health Ministry said in a statement.
The Nicaraguan authorities did not specify what health condition Funes is suffering from. The leftist governed El Salvador between 2009 and 2014.
The former president's condition has been "aggravated by chronic ailments that have afflicted him and that we have also attended to," added the Nicaraguan ministry, which said it is "in communication with his relatives."
"We have decided to publish this information, hoping that" the former president "can overcome this situation," it added, without going into details.
After being accused of misappropriating $351 million, among other corruption charges during his administration, the former president fled in mid-2016 to Nicaragua, where he received asylum. Three years later, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega granted him Nicaraguan nationality.
Funes has five criminal proceedings pending before the Salvadoran justice system, including the charge of embezzlement.
In May 2023, he was sentenced in absentia to 14 years in prison on charges of being part of illicit groups and breach of duties, due to his role in a gang truce aimed at reducing homicides in the country.
Subsequently, in June 2024, he was also sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for the crime of money laundering and asset laundering, after being found guilty of favoring a Guatemalan company to be awarded the construction of a bridge.
In exchange for favoring this award, the former president "received a light aircraft as a gift," said the Attorney General's Office (FGR) at the time.
In El Salvador, since September 2022, trials with absent defendants are allowed.
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