Editing History of El Salvador (section)

==Post-war period (1992–2019)==
[[File:Develación de escultura de Monseñor Romero. (31416362018).jpg|thumb|Unveiling of [[Óscar Romero|Monsignor Romero's]] sculpture]]
The FMLN participated in the 1994 presidential election as a political party. [[Armando Calderón Sol]], the [[Nationalist Republican Alliance|ARENA]] candidate, won the election. During his rule, Calderón Sol implemented neoliberal policies, including the privatization of several large state enterprises. The FMLN emerged strengthened from the legislative and municipal elections of 1997, where they won the mayoralty of San Salvador. However, internal divisions in the process of electing a presidential candidate damaged the party's image. ARENA again won the presidency in the election of March 7, 1999, with its candidate [[Francisco Flores Pérez]].

In the presidential elections of March 21, 2004, ARENA was victorious again, this time with the candidate [[Antonio Saca]], securing the party's third consecutive term. In the same election, economist [[Ana Vilma de Escobar]] became El Salvador's first female vice president. The election result also marked the end of the minor parties (PCN, PDC, and CD), which failed get the 3% required by electoral law to maintain their registration as parties.

In the postwar period, El Salvador experienced problems with [[organized crime]] in the form of “[[Mara (gang)|maras]]” or gangs, mainly due to the deportation of Salvadorans from the United States. Two law enforcement programs created to combat this problem–[[La Mano Dura]] and Mano Superdura–have failed.

Currently, El Salvador's largest source of foreign currency is [[remittance]]s sent by Salvadorans from abroad; these have been estimated at over $2 billion US dollars. There are over 2 million Salvadorans living abroad in countries including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Australia, and Sweden.

In the 2009 presidential elections, FMLN candidate [[Mauricio Funes]], a former journalist, won the presidency. This was the first victory of a leftist political party in El Salvador's history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jun-02-fg-el-salvador-funes2-story.html|title=El Salvador elects its first leftist president, TV host Mauricio Funes|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=2 June 2009}}</ref> Funes took over as president on June 1, 2009, together with [[Salvador Sánchez Cerén]] as vice president.

In 2014, Cerén took office as president, after winning the election as the candidate of the left-wing FMLN. Cerén had been a guerrilla leader in the Civil War and is the first ex-rebel to serve as president.<ref>Sánchez Cerén: de guerrillero a presidente de El Salvador. BBC (17 March 2014)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/6/2/ex-rebel-sworn-in-as-el-salvador-president|title=Ex-rebel sworn in as El Salvador president}}</ref> Under his leadership, El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban the mining of metal on its territory, for environmental and public health reasons.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/mar/30/el-salvador-makes-history-first-nation-to-impose-blanket-ban-on-metal-mining|title=El Salvador makes history as first nation to impose blanket ban on metal mining|first=Nina|last=Lakhani|newspaper=The Guardian|date=March 30, 2017|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waronwant.org/media/el-salvador-mining-ban-victory-democracy-over-corporate-greed|title=El Salvador mining ban a victory for democracy over corporate greed|date=30 March 2017|access-date=15 October 2018|archive-date=30 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330160743/http://www.waronwant.org/media/el-salvador-mining-ban-victory-democracy-over-corporate-greed|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Corrupt presidents===
Former President Mauricio Funes fled to Nicaragua in 2014 after being charged with illicit enrichment and money laundering. In 2017, an El Salvador court ruled that Funes and one of his sons had illegally enriched themselves.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-el-salvador-corruption-idUSKBN1DS2VP|title=Salvador court finds ex-president Funes illegally enriched himself|work=Reuters|date=28 November 2017}}</ref> Funes was still living in Nicaragua as of 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2019/02/05/internacionales/2521241-mauricio-funes-sobre-su-asilo-en-nicaragua-es-ortega-y-no-nayib-el-que-debe-decidir|title=Régimen no entregará a Mauricio Funes al nuevo gobierno de El Salvador|date=February 5, 2019|website=La Prensa}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Fugitive Salvadoran Former President Given Nicaragua Citizenship|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/americas_fugitive-salvadoran-former-president-given-nicaragua-citizenship/6172925.html|access-date=27 December 2019|website=Voice of America|date=30 July 2019}}</ref> Funes was also sentenced in 2023 to 14 years in prison in absentia because of negotiations related to [[2012–2014 Salvadoran gang truce|the gang truces]] he made while serving as president.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2023-05-29|title=Ex-El Salvador President Mauricio Funes sentenced to 14 years for negotiating with gangs|url=https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-president-mauricio-funes-sentenced-70a77555aa50ac517be659b65cab6d1a|access-date=2023-05-29|website=AP NEWS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Renteria|first=Nelson|date=2023-05-29|title=El Salvador court sentences ex-President Funes to 14 years in prison|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-court-sentences-ex-president-funes-14-years-prison-2023-05-29/|access-date=2023-05-29}}</ref> He was sentenced to an additional six years for tax evasion,<ref>{{Cite web|title=El Salvador sentences former president to 6 years in jail – DW – 07/06/2023|url=https://www.dw.com/en/el-salvador-sentences-former-president-to-6-years-in-jail/a-66130637|access-date=2023-07-06|website=dw.com}}</ref> and he was also placed under sanctions by the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]].<ref name="abcnews.go.com">{{Cite web|title=State Department sanctions 2 former Salvadoran leaders, dozens of officials in Central America|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/state-department-sanctions-2-former-salvadoran-leaders-dozens-101495380|access-date=2023-07-20|website=ABC News}}</ref>

In 2018, former President Antonio Saca was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to diverting more than US$300 million in state funds to his own businesses and third parties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/8578-salvadoran-ex-president-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison|title = Salvadoran Ex-President Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison}}</ref>

In 2023, former President Salvador Sánchez Cerén was sanctioned by the U.S. State Department for "significant corruption by laundering money" during his tenure as vice president.<ref name="abcnews.go.com"/>