By Nelson Renteria, Sofia Menchu and Gustavo Palencia
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) -Central American presidential aides, top judges and former presidents were put on a U.S. State Department list seen by Reuters on Thursday that names individuals allegedly engaged in corruption, obstructing justice or undermining democracy.
The so-called Engel List was created under a law sponsored by then-U.S. Representative Eliot Engel and enacted by Congress in December that required the State Department to assemble within 180 days a list of corrupt actors in Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
Seven current and former top Salvadoran officials appeared on the list, including President Nayib Bukele’s Minister of Labor Rolando Castro, Cabinet Chief Carolina Recinos and former Justice and Security Minister Rogelio Rivas.
More than a dozen Honduran lawmakers and two senior Guatemalan judges were also named, including recently appointed Constitutional Court judge Nester Vasquez.
The U.S. government said the officials were on the list for reasons including inappropriately influencing Supreme Court Magistrate selection and undermining democratic processes in efforts to damage political opponents.
The Salvadoran government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bukele has drawn international criticism, including from the United States, over replacement senior judges and the attorney general.
(Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador, Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City, Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa, and Ted Hesson in Washington; writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
