Antonio Saca
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Biography edit
Elías Antonio Saca was born in the city of Usulután in the department of the same name, on March 9, 1965.
Studies edit
From the Instituto Cervantes he went on to Colegio Cristóbal Colón, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree. From Vanguardia he went to the YSR Circuit where he worked alongside the sports journalist, Mauricio Saade Torres, from where he went to Cadena Sonora, alongside Ramón Rodríguez with whom he made the "Solo Deportes" program. It didn't take long for him to make the jump to television, where he went on to be a sports director for over ten years.
In 1987 he associated with Alfonso Rivas to found Radio América, which was succeeded by a series of departmental stations until in 1993 he broke with that alliance and founded Radio Astral, the first of the SAMIX group, made up of nine stations.
Once a successful businessman, Tony Saca joined the Salvadoran Association of Radio Broadcasters (ASDER) in 1997, of which he was president for two terms from 1997 to 2001.
He also had an important and active role as a member of the International Radio Association (AIR), where he was president of the Standing Committee on Freedom of Expression. He was also president of the National Association of Private Enterprise for two consecutive terms.
President of El Salvador edit
he was sworn in on June 1, 2004 as president of El Salvador and promised to govern "close to the people" seeking job creation and greater security for salvadorans.
Saca, of the Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA, right), became president after his resounding victory in the elections of March 21, 2004, in which he defeated Schafik Handal, of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN, left). and achieved for his party the fourth consecutive government since 1989.
Thousands of workers, peasants and left-wing politicians blocked highways and staged riots in different parts of the country in rejection of the fourth government of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), headed by the businessman.
During his presidency, he maintained Salvadoran troops in Iraq, and his opposition to leftist governments in Latin America, especially Cuba and Venezuela. He implemented a plan called "Red Solidaria" that granted a subsidy to families living in extreme poverty.
Linked to several scandals of embezzlement and corruption in the management of public funds, destined for construction, as well as in other State institutions, such as the Ministries of Health, Education, the Multisectoral Investment Bank and the Presidency of the Republic itself.
On June 1, 2009, he handed over the Presidency of the Republic to Mauricio Funes.
Condemnation edit
In September 2018, the former president was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the diversion and laundering of more than 300 million dollars from public coffers. The Second Sentencing Court sentenced Elías Antonio Saca to five years in prison for the crime of embezzlement (embezzlement) and five years for the crime of money laundering.