President Bukele said on April 7 that Anliker would “continue to contribute his experience” to the ministry, but did not announce that he would continue as deputy minister, thus retaining his jurisdiction.
Pablo Anliker remains in the government as Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, as stated in Volume 431 of the Official Gazette, after it was announced last week that he would be leaving his post as minister.
The document shows agreement 105 in which the president of the republic, Nayib Bukele, accepts Anliker’s resignation and later appoints him, in accordance 110, as deputy minister of that state portfolio. With this appointment, Bukele retains Anliker’s jurisdiction as a civil servant.
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The news that Anliker is no longer the head of that institution was made public on April 7. That day, Bukele David made Josué Martínez official as branch minister, but he said nothing about Anliker. It wasn’t until late at night that Bukele confirmed that Anliker would remain in the facility, without giving further details.
David Martínez was appointed as the new agriculture minister on April 7 following Anliker’s departure. Photo Courtesy: Presidency Press Secretary
“Former minister Anliker will continue to contribute his experience to the ministry during the transition period,” Bukele said in his tweet.
Anliker was in charge of the institution currently under investigation by both the Attorney General’s Office and the Court of Accounts for irregularities in the purchasing process for the Sanitary Emergency Program (PES) that provides food parcels to the population under the Covid-19- pandemic.
One of the main irregularities found in the Court’s audit so far is the purchase of maize flour with a supplement, the purchase of food products without health registration and the zero consumption data of the foreign companies from which it purchased the goods. .
In addition, Anliker, being Minister of Agriculture, declined to account for how much and how he used public funds allocated to him through the Emergency Fund, Recovery and Reconstruction (FERRE) at the request of the Citizen Monitoring and Oversight Committee.
This accountability was to be made without reservation to the Monitoring Committee by all officials or institutions using FERRE funds and within ten working days, in accordance with Decree 674, published in the Official Journal of June 22, 2020.
Anliker has also been subject to complaints in the Ethics Court for obstructing audits by the Court of Auditors since last year.
The change was announced a few days after the United States published the list of corrupt Central America under which several Salvadoran officials would be named.
However, with this appointment, Anliker retains immunity because Article 236 of the Constitution of the Republic protects itThis article states that the officer is only accountable to the Legislative Assembly for the official and common crimes he observes, that is, the judiciary cannot directly accuse him.
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Other changes are also added in the same part of the Official Gazette. The deputy superintendent of banks, insurance companies and other financial entities, Ana Lissette Cerén de Barrillas, resigned.
Evelyn Marisol Gracias was appointed to that position.
The resignation of Karina Guadalupe Burgos de Olivares as Deputy Superintendent of Pensions was also accepted and Nelson Oswaldo Ramírez Jiménez was appointed to the position.