El Salvador leader turns palace into museum

[Judi Lynn]

El Salvador leader turns palace into museum

President Sanchez Ceren gives up official residence, turning into a museum and arts centre to reflect national identity.

Last updated: 07 Jul 2014 07:13



El Salvador's president has turned his official residence, a palatial building in a wealthy area of the capital San Salvador, into a museum and arts centre for the poor and disadvantaged.

Salvador Sanchez Ceren reopened the building on Sunday, describing it as a place where people can reflect on their country and its artistic wealth.

A statement said the building welcomed the poor and excluded, and was a "place to gather and reflect on El Salvador's identity and everyday life".

The former rebel commander has decided to live in his family home in a middle-class area of the city.

Members of human rights groups and relatives of those killed in the country's civil war also attended the opening, the AFP news agency reported. Media were not invited, the agency added.

More:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/07/el-salvador-leader-turns-palace-into-museum-20147745829264217.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. El Salvador president opens residence as art gallery

July 2014 Last updated at 20:25 ET
El Salvador president opens residence as art gallery

The new president of El Salvador has opened his official residence as an art gallery, welcoming what his office described as the socially excluded. The president's office said visitors would be able to see Salvadoran art and reflect on the country's reality.

President Salvador Sanchez, a former left-wing rebel leader who took office a month ago, said the residence would be open every two weeks. He said he would continue living at his private home during his term of office.

"The residence will become a space where we can share with those who have been excluded," said Mr Sanchez at the opening of the new gallery. Among the first guests to his official residence were human rights activists and relatives of victims of the civil war in the 1980s and 1990s.

About 75,000 people died in the conflict between the US-backed government and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of five left-wing rebel groups.

More:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28189140