In September 2020 The Daily Today published that El Salvador was on the list of countries eligible for a Fomilenio III, according to a report by the MCC sent to the US Congress.
U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Ronald Johnson said this morning, during the inauguration of a Nahuizalco National Institute in Sonsonate, that El Salvador has not lost Fomilenio III, because “the opportunity never existed “.
“We had Fomilenio I and now we’re getting to the closing of fomilenio II. Only 9 countries in the world have had two programs and none has had three programs. I asked this question in Washington DC before coming. We never had the opportunity of Fomilenio III. Then the Savior has not lost Fomilenio III, the opportunity never existed “, he pointed out.
His statements are given in the context of a debate on the non-compliance of Fomilenio II deadlines and the main indicators of corruption that the country has not met to qualify for benefits from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC for acronyms in English)
In September 2020 The Today Newspaper published that an MCC report sent to the U.S. Congress included El Salvador on the list of eligible countries for a third compact fund for fiscal year 2021.
In the category of low-income candidate countries, El Salvador topped the list and was followed by Sri Lanka (in South Asia) and Tunisia (in North Africa), according to the MCC report released on September 8. .
“We already approved the money for Fomilenio and spent it,” Margarita Escobar questions
However, their chances were reduced after failing to meet, for the fourth consecutive year, the corruption indicators required by the MCC within a scheme of 20 indicators in total.
In addition, non-compliance with the closing deadlines for Fomilenio II was due to the government’s refusal to transfer the counterpart’s funds to the US program, despite having secured international loan funds.
Due to this financial stalemate, Fomilenio II administratively closes until April 30 to allow the terms of major project contracts that were not yet finished, not to be lost and to be resumed once the legal dispute over the funds is resolved.
In his remarks, Ambassador Johnson recalled that U.S. aid programs such as Fomilenio have been designed to complement other development programs “to complement, not to replace,” he added.