| History of corruption After Hurricane Mitch struck El Salvador in November 1998, ANEP was put in charge of relief and reconstruction efforts. During this time, international aid was mishandled and politicized. ARENA gave people milk and bottles of oil that had been donated by the international community in exchange for their votes in the 1999 election. Also, ARENA allegedly paid former paramilitary civil patrols over $1 million (of relief and reconstruction funds) in exchange for their votes to support then presidential candidate Francisco Flores in the 1999 elections. |