El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele addresses the nation during a live broadcast to speak about his bitcoin legal tender plan, at the Presidenti

Central American officials blacklisted by U.S. as part of corruption crackdown

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2021-07-02 03:30:05

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele addresses the nation during a live broadcast to speak about his bitcoin legal tender plan, at the Presidential House in San Salvador, El Salvador June 24, 2021. Secretaria de Prensa de La Presidencia/Handout via REUTERS

SAN SALVADOR, July 1 (Reuters) - Central American presidential aides, top judges and former presidents were put on a U.S. State Department list on Thursday that names individuals the U.S. government accuses of corruption, obstructing justice, or undermining democracy.

The so-called Engel List was created under a law sponsored by then-U.S. Representative Eliot Engel and enacted by Congress in December that required the State Department to assemble within 180 days a list of high profile individuals it regarded as corrupt in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Seven current and former top Salvadoran officials appeared on the list, including President Nayib Bukele's Labor Minister Rolando Castro, Cabinet Chief Carolina Recinos, and former Justice and Security Minister Rogelio Rivas.