By Nima Nayebi

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – El Salvador and Cuba have restored full diplomatic ties on the eve of the inauguration of new leftist Salvadorian President Mauricio Funes.

El Salvador originally cut its diplomatic ties with Cuba under pressure from Washington D.C. following the Cuban Revolution 50 years ago. As his first presidential act, former President Funes, a former journalist, announced that he was restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba, making El Salvador the last Latin American country to do so.

“The government that I preside will normalize relations with all the Latin American countries; this means that we will immediately re-establish diplomatic, commercial and cultural bonds with the sister nation of Cuba,” said Funes at his inauguration. In attendance was a Cuban delegation headed by Vice-President Esteban Lazo. Also in attendance was US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

According to new Salvadorian Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez, this will be one of the main foreign policy decisions of the new government. The policy aims to facilitate trade, as well as educational, cultural, and health exchanges between the Salvadorian and Cuban peoples.