Mauricio Funes, the first leftist president of El Salvador, passed away at the age of 65 in Nicaragua, where he had been living in exile since 2016.

The Nicaraguan government confirmed his death on Tuesday night, citing a “serious chronic ailment” as the cause.

Funes, who served as El Salvador’s president from 2009 to 2014, died at 9:35 p.m., according to a statement from Nicaragua’s health ministry published in state media. Hours earlier, officials reported that his condition had worsened due to longstanding health issues.

Funes fled to Nicaragua in 2016 after being accused of embezzling $351 million from Salvadoran state funds, among other corruption charges. He was granted asylum by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government and later received Nicaraguan citizenship in 2019.

Throughout his exile, Funes maintained that the charges against him were politically motivated. However, he faced five criminal cases in El Salvador, including allegations of embezzlement and money laundering.

In May 2023, Funes was sentenced in absentia to 14 years in prison for allegedly negotiating with criminal gangs during his presidency, in a bid to reduce violence in El Salvador. In June 2024, he received an additional eight-year sentence for money laundering, after being found guilty of accepting a light aircraft as a bribe in exchange for favoring a Guatemalan company in a government contract.

The United States had also taken action against Funes, blacklisting him and rendering him ineligible for a U.S. visa. The U.S. State Department accused Funes of orchestrating schemes that resulted in the misappropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars from Salvadoran state coffers.

Funes’ death marks the end of a controversial political legacy, with his tenure marred by allegations of corruption and ties to criminal activity. (ILKHA)