Central America
Trial begins against 10 accused of helping Funes to appropriate more than $351 million
August 15|
In the case known as “Public Pillage” the First Sentencing Court of San Salvador, has begun this Tuesday the public hearing against 10 defendants linked to the corruption network that created the former president of the Republic, Mauricio Funes.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic accuses for the crimes of money laundering, embezzlement (appropriation of state property) and special cases of money laundering.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has more than 2,500 documents, 114 witnesses, financial and tax accounting experts and 21 international assistances, which were admitted in the preliminary hearing and which will begin to be evaluated by the court in the trial scheduled for one month.
The prosecutors intend to prove with financial, accounting and tax expertise that the defendants allegedly appropriated public funds that the Ministry of Finance allocated to the Presidency of the Republic for the reserved expenses between 2009 and 2014.
One of the key expertise is the accounting analysis made by an expert where he confirms that Funes in his presidential term used the mechanism of budgetary reinforcements to appropriate $351,035,400.
This expertise called “Forensic Financial Accounting Audit of Administrative and Functional Management” shows that in the records of the Ministry of Finance, between June 1, 2009 and June 1, 2014, it appears that the budget for the Reserved Expenses item that the Legislative Assembly approved for the Presidency of the Republic was $80,818,285.
But Funes, not satisfied with these funds, devised a criminal plan to increase the secret item known as “Item 54315 Reserved Expenses” through budgetary reinforcements.
The increase was 300% equivalent to $270,217,115.49, leading him to appropriate $351,035,400.49, in his entire administration and the people who today begin to be prosecuted were part of that criminal structure, according to the accusation of the Prosecutor’s Office. Funes fled justice in 2016 to Nicaragua.
As the plan was to lose track of those funds delivered as reserved expenses to the Presidency of the Republic, from the subsidiary account of the public treasury the money began to be transferred to accounts that were in the name of private individuals in the Banco Hipotecario.
The holders of these private accounts were Francisco Rodríguez Arteaga and Pablo Gómez, who were in charge of depositing the money through checks. These two people were also part of the network used by former President Antonio Saca.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, these actions are serious because the accused violated the administrative regulations that already determine the mechanisms to be followed in the management of public funds.
The private attorneys at the time of initiating the trial have presented several petitions. One of them is a peremptory exception of res judicata in the case of Vanda Pignato.
The defense says that she was already judged in a civil trial for illicit enrichment of $135,536.15, funds with which she paid credit cards and other financial products, in that lawsuit she was absolved of responsibility and in this process of Public Plunder are the same facts accused which becomes a double judgment and that she be exonerated for the crime of money laundering.
The defense has also requested the exclusion of José Francisco Cáceres Saldaña, former private secretary of Mauricio Funes, as he was not duly granted the status of criterion witness.
They have also requested that some documents handed over by Cáceres Saldaña not be evaluated since the proper chain of custody was not followed.
They are also requesting not to take into account a point of expertise of a financial accounting analysis made on the reserved expenses and which affects David Rivas, former Secretary of Communications of the Presidency.
THE PENDANTS
1 Vanda Pignato, former First Lady, accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of money laundering and simulation of crimes.
2 José Miguel Antonio Menéndez Avelar, owner of COSASE, accused of money laundering, asset laundering and tax fraud.
3 Juan Carlos Guzmán Berdugo, former father-in-law of Mauricio Funes, indicted for money laundering and asset laundering.
4 Manuel Rivera Castro, former president of Banco Hipotecario, indicted for embezzlement, money laundering and asset laundering.
5 Rigoberto Palacios Panameño, former chief accountant, faces trial for embezzlement.
6 Luis Miguel Ángel García, accused of money laundering and asset laundering.
7 Francisco Rodríguez Arteaga, former financial manager of Casa Presidencial, indicted for embezzlement, money laundering and assets laundering.
8 Pablo Gómez, former technical assistant of the Presidency, accused of embezzlement, money laundering and assets laundering.
9 Jorge Alberto Hernández Castellano, former Treasury chief of Casa Presidencial, indicted for embezzlement.
10 David Rivas, ex-secretary of Communications of the Presidency, accused of money laundering.
Central America
Arévalo accuses Porras and judge of undermining democracy in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo denounced a new attempt at a “coup” orchestrated by the Attorney General’s Office. He also requested an extraordinary session at the Organization of American States (OAS) to address the country’s ongoing political crisis.
The president has been at odds with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for being “corrupt” and “anti-democratic.” Since 2023, Arévalo has accused Porras of launching investigations against his party, Semilla, and the 2023 elections as part of a scheme to prevent his inauguration in January 2024.
From the presidential office, Arévalo has said he continues to “resist” the “coup plotters,” but tensions escalated last Friday when Judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of the Attorney General’s Office, ordered the electoral court to annul the Semilla party’s promoter group. Arévalo interpreted this as an attempt to revoke the positions won by the party.
“Orellana, a hitman who distorts the law in service of Consuelo Porras, is attempting to force […] the unconstitutional removal of a mayor, 23 elected deputies […], the vice president, and the president of the country,” Arévalo said in a televised address on Sunday.
“We call on the international community not to turn a blind eye to the coup being attempted in Guatemala,” he added, speaking alongside his cabinet and congressional members at the National Palace in Guatemala City.
Arévalo requested that the Organization of American States hold an extraordinary session to present “the serious threats” to the Guatemalan Constitution and democracy perpetrated by Porras and Orellana.
Yesterday, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez reaffirmed the president’s statements, emphasizing the need “to go and expose the situation” Guatemala has been facing since last week due to the actions of the Attorney General’s Office.
Central America
New dismembered bodies found in San Juan river days after mass killing in Palencia
On the morning of Monday, October 27, Guatemala’s Volunteer Firefighters confirmed the discovery of two bodies and two human heads inside plastic bags in the San Juan River, located in the Zacualpía village at kilometer 21 of the Atlantic Highway, in the jurisdiction of Palencia.
The remains were found by personnel from Companies 85, 50, and Central, who responded after receiving a report about suspicious bags floating in the water. The gruesome discovery was made just a few meters from the site where eight tortured bodies were found under the San Juan Bridge on Friday, October 24.
Local authorities do not rule out a connection between both incidents and suspect they may be tied to the same criminal organization. Investigators from the Public Ministry and the National Civil Police arrived at the scene to gather evidence and transfer the remains to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif).
According to data from the National Economic Research Center (CIEN), Guatemala recorded 2,154 homicides between January and August 2025, an increase compared to the 1,816 reported during the same period in 2024.
Central America
Four guatemalan soldiers arrested for stealing weapons from Northern Air Command
Four soldiers were arrested in connection with the theft of weapons from the Northern Air Command of the Ministry of Defense in Petén, Guatemala, following operations conducted by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office).
“During the operations, criminal scenes were processed, analyzed, and documented photographically, possible escape routes were identified, surveillance cameras were located, and potential witnesses were interviewed,” the Prosecutor’s Office explained in a social media post.
The detained soldiers were identified as Ludwin Jónathan Cardona Baltazar, charged with illicit association, dereliction of duty, and aggravated theft; and Josué Israel Pérez Jerónimo, Alain Omar Marroquín Soch, and Carlos Ernesto Ibarra Corrales, charged with dereliction of duty, according to Guatemala’s Prensa Libre.
The military personnel reportedly stole 55 rifles, 14,420 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, 92 magazines of 35 rounds each, 19 magazines of 20 rounds each, and three grenade launchers, “which were allegedly moved from the arms warehouse to the outside for illicit sale.”
The Ministry of Defense stated that it will keep its internal control mechanisms active to prevent similar incidents.
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