Bukele: Salvadoran National Security Adviser Arrested After Being Deemed 'Double Agent'

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele said the country’s national security adviser Alejandro Muyshondt had been arrested after investigations discovered he worked as a "double agent" for former President Mauricio Funes, who is living in exile in Nicaragua and wanted by Salvadoran authorities for several crimes.

In a lengthy message to the Salvadoran public, Bukele stressed that all the information he was sharing was declassified by him, under his authority and in line with the country’s legislation.

"As for the ex-national security adviser Alejandro Muysondt, he has been arrested and will be delivered to the tribunals over several crimes, amongst them that of favoring the evasion and disclosure of secret documents by an official employee in favor of former President Mauricio Funes among others," Bukele said in a Wednesday post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The president noted that after launching the country’s new anti-corruption initiative in June, which allowed to effectively seize all the assets of another former Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani, the office of the national security adviser was one of the few who accessed elements of proofs about ongoing investigations.

However, the investigations carried by the State Intelligence Agency (OIE) found that Muyshondt was a "double agent" since 2019, Bukele said. He added that he worked for Funes with whom he leaked classified documents and, in several instances, altered versions of them to then share with journalists, nationals of multiple countries, and a foreign government whose name was not disclosed.

"There also are direct proofs that the national security adviser helped former president Funes to evade justice and avoid being captured," Bukele continued.

Moreover, after a representative of the OIE informed Muyshondt about an imminent investigation against his person, the national security adviser leaked compromising information about a lawmaker of the ruling party, Erick Garcia, notably about his acquisition of drugs from a drug-trafficker.

Bukele said that an investigation conducted by the Attorney General Office determined that Garcia had indeed defrauded public trust, while others of his possible crimes were still being investigated.

"Proofs are sufficient to prosecute the lawmaker over ideological falsehood, to strip him of parliamentary immunity, and to suspended him from his position as a lawmaker," he continued.

The Salvadoran president noted that an investigation was also initiated against Muyshondt’s alternate deputy and candidate for alternate deputy to the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), Nidia Turcios.