Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena (18 October 1959 – 21 January 2025) was a Salvadoran politician and journalist who served as the 79th president of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014.

Funes won the 2009 presidential election as the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party and took office on 1 June 2009.

In July 2023, he was placed under sanctions by the U.S. State Department following his conviction in absentia for negotiations related to the gang truces he made while in office, illicit enrichment, and tax evasion.

He received his high school diploma (bachillerato) from the Externado San José,[3] and studied at Universidad Centroamericana but did not graduate.

[5] In 1994 he was awarded the Maria Moors Cabot prize from Columbia University for promoting press freedom and inter-American understanding.

[6] Prior to his involvement with the politics of El Salvador, Funes was a journalist who hosted a popular interview show on television.

[7] He made appearances on Channel 12 and CNN en Español,[8] where he worked as a correspondent from 1991 to 2007,[9] and also hosted local news programs which were critical of previous governments.

[17] In addition, investments were made in improving school infrastructure,[18] a presidential decree was issued against discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation in the public services, two working groups on indigenous affairs were created as a means of bringing about better representation of the interests of El Salvador's indigenous communities,[19] a community health plan was introduced,[20] teachers' salaries were increased, and measures were introduced to combat illiteracy.

On the anniversary of the peace agreement, Mauricio Funes acknowledged on behalf of the state the participation of the Armed Forces in war crimes and apologized to the victims.

[27] More recently, there were reports of newly formed death squads operating in El Salvador, due in part to a lack of response of the police.

[32] On 10 February 2016, the Salvadoran Supreme Court ruled that Funes would face a civil trial for charges of illegally laundering more than $700,000 in personal bank accounts.

[49] The political asylum granted to Mauricio Funes by the Government of Nicaragua included his partner, Ada Mitchell Guzmán Sigüenza, as well as his three sons.