El Salvador’s President Mauricio Funes announced that former General Francisco Ramon Salinas Rivera would assume the role of National Civilian Police (PNC) on Monday . . . Salinas Rivera resigned from the military this week to tackle the out of control bloodshed in El Salvador . . . the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) party criticized Funes for his decision . . . FMLN claimed the appointment of any current or former military official to run the police force was unconstitutional and violated the 1992 peace accords that ended the 12-year civil war between the Marxist guerrillas who founded FMLN and the U.S.-backed government . . . El Salvador has the highest rate of violent fatalities in Central America, “with 70 deaths recorded for every 100,000 inhabitants,” according to the U.S. State Department . . . the appointment comes less than a week after police seized $1.5 million in counterfeit money . . . Funes has been facing growing pressure from conservative business and political opponents who want leaders with military experience to stop the killings . . . government officials are also concerned that a similar military discipline is required to eliminate the deep-rooted corruption in the police force that has both engaged in and permitted the expansion of violent crime and gang activity.