Salvadoran ex-president Flores dies after stroke: party
El Salvador's former president Francisco Flores has died, officials in his political party announced, days after he slipped into a coma following a massive stroke. "We mourn the death of president Francisco Flores, and express solidarity with his family at this time," read a message issued from the Twitter account of his rightist National Republican Alliance (ARENA) party. The announcement of the death of Flores, 56, who led the Central American country from 1999 to 2004, comes as he faced a corruption trial on charges of stealing $15 million donated by Taiwan for victims of a 2001 earthquake. Flores turned himself in to authorities in 2014 to face the allegations, which he steadfastly denied. The former president, who was under house arrest at the time of his death, was rushed to a hospital the previous weekend after suffering a stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body, and slipped into a coma from which he never awakened.
