Rodolfo Delgado

Rodolfo Antonio Delgado Montes is a Salvadoran lawyer who currently serves as the attorney general of El Salvador. He was appointed as attorney general by the Legislative Assembly in May 2021 after his predecessor, Raúl Melara, was removed by the Nuevas Ideas-led legislature. Prior to his appointment as attorney general, he worked for the Office of the Attorney General from 1995 to 2017 in various roles.

Early life

Rodolfo Antonio Delgado Montes attended the José Matías Delgado University from 1992 to 1997, graduating as a Doctor of Juridical Science. In 2007, he earned a diploma of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences from the José Simeón Cañas University.

Legal career

Early career

In April 1995, Delgado became the 3rd assistant attorney general for First Criminal Court of the Sonsonate Department. In May 1995, he transferred to the San Vicente Department Regional Court as the 2nd assistant attorney general for the Crimes Against Minors and Women in their Family Relationships Unit and the Crimes Against Life Unit. In January 1997, he became the 2nd assistant attorney general for the national government's Crimes Against Minors and Women in their Family Relationships Unit. The Office of the Attorney General did not take any action against Delgado. Delgado's service as an advisor ended in October 2017.

From 2017 to 2021, Delgado worked as a lawyer in free practice. In 2017, he was the defense attorney for Byron Larrazabal, an associate of former President of the Legislative Assembly Sigfrido Reyes Morales. In 2020, he was the defense attorney for Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, the incumbent director of the National Civil Police, during an investigation into his role in the 2020 Salvadoran political crisis. From 2018 to 2021, he was the defense attorney for Jorge Manuel Vega and Vanessa Beatriz Argüello de Vega, both alleged collaborators of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), one of El Salvador's largest street gangs. Prosecutors alleged that Vega and Argüello had sold illegal drugs to MS-13 and allowed the gang to invest in motels with profits from extortions. Vega was acquitted in October 2020 while Argüello's case was closed in October 2021.

Attorney General of El Salvador

On 1 May 2021, the 13th session of the Legislative Assembly assumed office, and the Nuevas Ideas-led legislature voted to remove five justices of the Supreme Court and Attorney General Raúl Melara. The following day, the Legislative Assembly voted to replace Melara as attorney general with Delgado. Two weeks later, Delgado appointed Carlos Rodolfo Linares Ascencio, a trial judge from the Santa Ana Department, as his assistant attorney general. Muyshondt was subsequently arrested for alleged association with gangs during the 2014 presidential election in support of Nationalist Republican Alliance presidential candidate Norman Quijano.

In August 2021, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele alleged that the United States had solicited him to not allow Delgado to be re-elected as attorney general. In December 2022, a video published on Facebook falsely claimed that United States President Joe Biden ordered the removal of Delgado from office.

On 1 June 2023, during a speech to the Legislative Assembly celebrating his fourth year in office, Bukele announced the beginning of the war against corruption and announced that Delgado was in the process of confiscating various properties and assets owned by former President Alfredo Cristiani. Later that month, Delgado questioned why Interpol had not located or captured Salvadoran politicians accused of corruption, continuing by stating that Interpol believes that the cases are political in nature.

On 28 November 2023, Bukele publicly asked Delgado to investigate his entire cabinet, stating that he wanted to leave a positive legacy of combatting corruption.

On 23 December 2024, Delgado was re-elected by the Legislative Assembly to continue serving as attorney general from 2025 to 2028.

Honors and awards

Delgado has received recognition from the Office of the Attorney General for his investigations into kidnappings while he served as the coordinator of the Organized Crime Unit. For those same investigations, he also received the DECO Police Hero award from the National Civil Police.