Salvadoran archbishop hopes former congressman pays for crimes

San Salvador, El Salvador, Oct 10, 2007 / 09:21 am

Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle of San Salvador said he was pleased with news of the capture in the US of former congressman Roberto Carlos Silva, who is accused of various crimes, saying, “It’s just that he pays everything he has to pay.”

The archbishop congratulated police on their efforts to catch Silva, and said he hoped the former congressman would “render an account for all of his actions” and “return everything from his fortune that was illegally obtained.”

Silva was captured last Friday in Anaheim, California, by FBI immigration agents.  He is wanted in El Salvador for illicit negotiations and bribing government officials into giving construction contracts to companies he owns.  He is also wanted in cases involving money laundering and drug trafficking.
Silva was staying in the United States with a woman with whom he was carrying on an extramarital affair.  His wife, Nora Emily Parada, is in prison in San Salvador under accusations of complicity in Silva’s crimes.

Archbishop Lacalle called the situation pitiful and warned that a person who “falls into the temptation to abuse his influences and political situation to take money from others is also capable of failing in conjugal fidelity and other things.  It’s a shame,” he said.