Former attorney general of El Salvador joins FIU as senior fellow The former attorney general of El Salvador, whose high-level corruption cases put a former president, a judge and his own predecessor behind bars, joined the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs as a senior fellow. Credited with strengthening the rule of law in a country besieged by powerful gangs and corrupt government and military officials, career prosecutor Douglas Meléndez Ruíz led a series of workshops and capacity-building programs on justice reform and anti-corruption at FIU and in Central America. Supported by a grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Meléndez Ruíz worked with LACC and the Center for the Administration of Justice, both part of the Green School. Meléndez Ruíz arrived at FIU in summer 2019 and began leading workshops on anti-corruption and justice reform in the fall. “We very much look forward to having Attorney General Meléndez Ruíz engage our students and faculty on one of the key challenges facing the Americas,” said Frank Mora, former director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, where Meléndez Ruíz is based. Senior fellows at the Green School devote their time at FIU to research, teaching and the creation of new engagement opportunities for students. Previous fellows include Manny Diaz, former mayor of Miami, and Kimberly Green, president of the Green Family Foundation. Current fellows include David J. Kramer, former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor under President George W. Bush. Meléndez Ruíz’s anti-corruption work brought him death threats and criticism from politicians on all sides. Late last year, El Salvador’s legislative assembly denied him a second term, appointing a candidate backed by right-wing party leaders. Despite powerful critics from the left, Meléndez Ruíz maintained both sides had accused him of bias. Speaking at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., last year, Meléndez Ruíz said it is essential for civil societies to stand up to corruption in all forms: “It seems that in some countries, and in El Salvador, the most complicated thing is not to investigate the criminals. The most complicated thing is to fight against the [corrupt] system that you have,’’ he said. “Corruption has no ideology. It is indifferent to any ideology. We have found people linked to corruption from the right and from the left.”
Creating a Just, Peaceful and Prosperous World
Former attorney general for El Salvador, Douglas Meléndez Ruíz, center, speaks at an event at FIU in October 2017, along with Attorney General of Guatemala Thelma Aldana Hernandez, and Frank Mora, director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center.
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