Mauricio Funes

Mauricio Funes (2008)

Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena (born October 18, 1959 in San Salvador ) is a Salvadoran politician ( FMLN ) and former journalist. From June 1, 2009 to June 1, 2014, he was President of El Salvador .

Life

Mauricio Funes is the son of the accountant Roberto Funes and his wife María Mirna. He attended renowned schools in his hometown: the Colegio Centroamérica as a primary school and the Colegio Externado San José, which is run by Jesuits , as a grammar school . Funes studied humanities at the Universidad Centroamericana “José Simeón Cañas” (“UCA”) .

journalist

In 1986, Funes began working as a journalist for Noticiero Tele 10 , a broadcast on Canal 10 public television in El Salvador. From 1987 to 1991 he worked at Al Día , the newsroom of Canal 12 , where he was responsible for reporting from Parliament. In 1991 Funes was one of the founders of the Centro de Audiovisuales de la UCA and the Radio YSUCA . In 1992 he returned to Canal 12 as editor of the news program Al Día . In the following three years he developed this interview program. From 1997 he headed the newsroom at TV12 . Funes was perceived as a critical journalist towards the ARENA , which has been in power since 1989 .

From 1997 to 2003 he oversaw an editorial department called Sin Censura (without censorship ) within the news program Hechos of Canal 12 , where he frequently criticized the actions of the government. He asserted himself in several arguments with members of the government. In 2001, he made public complaints about the way international aid was handled following the January and February 2001 earthquakes. On February 19, 2005, he was released from Canal 12 .

On May 20, 2005, he returned to the screens with the program La Entrevista (The Interview ) on Canal 12 and Canal 15 of the television chain Megavision . In 2005, a television consumption survey showed that Funes' new show was the most watched morning program.

As a journalist, Funes has interviewed João Clemente Baena Soares , Secretary General of the Organization of American States , Javier Pérez de Cuéllar , César Gaviria , Felipe González , Hugo Chávez , Fidel Castro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , among others . In 1988 he interviewed Joaquín Villalobos Huezo from the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP) in Costa Rica . This was the first time a guerrilla chief gave an interview to a Salvadoran media representative. From May 2007, Funes was back on the air with his radio sin censura on the radio chain Mi gente UKW 700 . Funes was for many years CNN - correspondent in El Salvador.

Beginnings of the political career

In August 2007, the television company Megavision removed the La Entrevista con Mauricio Funes series from Canal 12's program . In September 2007, Funes stated on Canal 15 that it would be his last show as he would end his career as a commentator to pursue politics.

On September 27, 2007, the Comisión Política of the FMLN proposed Mauricio Funes as a candidate for the FMLN for the March 2009 presidential election. On November 11, 2007 it was announced that the Consejo Nacional, which is responsible for the free choice of presidential candidates in the FMLN, has appointed Mauricio Funes as presidential candidate. He only joined the FMLN in August 2008. Funes was the first FMLN presidential candidate who was not a member of the guerrillas during the Salvadoran military dictatorship.

On October 10, 2007, Alejandro Funes, the eldest son of Mauricio Funes, was killed in an act of violence in Paris. According to the police, the 27-year-old was attacked near the Louvre . Alejandro Funes was in Paris to study photography.

Presidency

As a moderate candidate of the left-wing FMLN, Funes won the presidential election on March 15, 2009 against Rodrigo Ávila with 51.3% of the vote. For his election campaign, Funes took over some of the things from Barack Obama . Among other things, the Internet played an important role in mobilizing its supporters. Vice-president was Salvador Sánchez Cerén , who had already held a leading position in the guerrilla.

After taking office on June 1, 2009, President Mauricio Funes subsidized the prices of corn and beans - a gesture and help for the poorest families. His government invested more in schools than previous governments and made sure that free consultation hours were introduced in state hospitals for those who could not afford to see a doctor. Under certain conditions, the residents of the hut settlements created by land occupations were able to legalize ownership of these small plots of land. In terms of economic policy, Funes did not rely on a planned economy , but on a market economy - a fundamental decision that was controversial in the FMLN. Already during the election campaign he announced that he did not want to reverse the privatizations implemented under the ARENA government. With regard to the crimes of the military dictatorship that ruled until 1992, Funes were more important than solving the crime and (modest) compensating the victims than trying to convict the perpetrators.

However, the FMLN did not have a majority in parliament during President Funes' tenure. So she was dependent on cooperation with smaller parties. In terms of tax legislation, smaller steps have been taken towards greater tax justice. The tax regression persisted. President Funes was unable to cope with tax evasion.

After the presidency

In February 2016, Funes was charged with unlawful enrichment . He was accused of being unable to provide sufficient information about the origin of a total of over 600,000 US dollars in his accounts. Funes did not appear in court, but fled to Nicaragua in August 2016, where he received political asylum from Daniel Ortega . He describes himself as the victim of a campaign of revenge for initiating the investigation against Francisco Flores .

Web links

Commons : Mauricio Funes  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography (spanish)
• Josef Oehrlein: Mauricio Funes: Depolarizer in El Salvador . In: FAZ of March 19, 2009, p. 10.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Biografia de Carlos Mauricio Funes , accessed October 9, 2017.
2. ↑ El Diario de Hoy , Mauricio Funes, el más visto .
3. ↑ Radio Reloj, La verdad irrebatible de Cuba ( Memento of the original dated December 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Angela Reyes: Slow countdown for the turning point? The election campaign begins in El Salvador - although the elections will not take place for a year. In: ila - Journal of the Latin America Information Center , ISSN  0946-5057 , No. 315 (May 2008), pp. 37-38.
5. ↑ Tobias Lambert: Historic opportunity. El Salvador could get a left-wing government for the first time , accessed on October 9, 2017.
6. ↑ Familia confirma muerte de Alejandro Funes ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 9, 2017. 
7. ^ Pablo Ordaz: Victoria histórica de la ex guerrilla izquierdista en El Salvador . In: El País, March 16, 2009, accessed October 9, 2017.
8. ↑ Helene Kapolnek: With card mobile phone against election fraud. How local radio stations in El Salvador reported on the election campaign and the 2009 elections . In: ila - Journal of the Latin America Observatory , No. 324 (April 2009), pp. 38–40.
9. ↑ Leo Gabriel : El Salvador: Unidos Creceremos - Together we will grow . In: Latin America different. Austria's magazine for Latin America and the Caribbean , ISSN  1010-7223 , vol. 2014, issue 3 (July), p. 18.
10. ↑ Tom Beier: El Salvador - Land in Transition. Controversial balance sheet of the first 100 days of left-wing government . In: Latin America News , ISSN  0174-6324 , Vol. 37 (2009), No. 425, pp. 11-13.
11. ↑ Eduard Fritsch: It is done! FMLN candidate Mauricio Funes becomes President of El Salvador. In: ila - Journal of the Latin America Observatory , No. 324 (April 2009), pp. 34–36.
12. ↑ "The state must apologize for crimes" .
13. ^ NZZ : El Salvador receives a left-wing president for the first time on March 16, 2009.
14. ^ César Villalona: The burden of the neoliberal tax reform. El Salvador: Why the Funes government has so little financial room for maneuver. In: ila - Journal of the Latin America Information Center , No. 370 (November 2013) pp. 20–22.
15. ↑ El expresidente de El Salvador Mauricio Funes recibe asilo político en Nicaragua , accessed on October 9, 2017.
16. ↑ Peter Gaupp: One corruption scandal after the other . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of November 24, 2016.

predecessor	Office	successor
Antonio Saca	President of El Salvador 2009-2014	Salvador Sánchez Cerén