September 21, 2021

On the edge of dictatorship, El Salvadorians protest for democracy

topic:	Democracy
located:	El Salvador
editor:	Ellen Nemitz

After a series of polemical events, El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, is currently facing a wave of public dissatisfaction. According to El Faro's reports, the last protests that took place on 15 September gathered thousands of people in the streets - a significant increase from the previous protests, which only gathered several hundred protestors. By contrast, El País reports this last protest amassed between 10,000 and 15,000 people. 

Although Bukele still maintains high approval ratings at home, he is increasingly being considered a dictator by international opinion. Within El Salvador’s borders, the population's discontentment is due to the gradual dismantling of democratic institutions, corruption, as well as the willingness of the president to rewrite the constitution and to create a way of allowing for reelection. The adoption of Bitcoins as an official currency has also raised concerns since only a small portion of the population trusts the cryptocurrency. In addition to all of this, an investigation has led to the suspicion that Bukele had negotiated with national gangs for electoral support.

By alleging corruption in the judiciary system, Bukele has managed to force several judges and prosecutors to retire. The new ruling was approved without the necessary debate and will affect nearly one-third of the country’s judges, according to reports, who will need to retire at 60 years-old or after 30 years of service. Besides, El Faro affirms that it will be up to the Supreme Court to name new magistrates, which, in the opinion of legal advisors, may be unconstitutional. One of the impacted judges was assigned to the trial of the 1980's El Mozote massacre and his retirement may end any hope of giving a closure to the case.

In addition, analysts point out that Bukele is carrying out continuous attacks on journalists. Amnesty International has also been warning about Bukele's human rights' violations, which is "like a campaign to stigmatise and silence those who dare to question the politics of the government and defend the human rights of all people,” which opposes to what he claimed during his campaign in 2019. 

Signs carried by the protestors last week read messages against a "dictatorship" and in favour of journalism and democracy. In March 2021, The Economist published the article "Why Salvadoreans love their populist president, Nayib Bukele" regarding the regional elections which reassured his power. While his popular support may be gradually shrinking, specialists of Latin American politics, such as José Miguel Vivanco, director for Americas at Human Rights Watch, affirm that El Salvador is on the edge of the dictatorship against which people have been protesting.

"Perhaps the main difference between Bukele, Chávez and Ortega is that the president of El Salvador has managed to seize democratic institutions much faster than his counterparts in Venezuela and Nicaragua," he wrote in Spanish on Twitter. In another tweet, Vivanco also adds that the path of El Salvador is similar to Nicaragua’s regarding the aspiration of the leader to control judicial, electoral and legislative power to "manipulate the Constitution" for the his own interests. 

Photo by Koshu Kunii