News from El Salvador
Submitted by Ron Leonhardt
1) President Nayib Bukele’s “Nuevas Ideas” political party holds an overwhelming majority of seats in El Salvador’s national legislature. It has continuously made changes to the Constitution and other laws to ensure Bukele’s and the party’s continued hold on the government, diminishing the power of other parties and the rights of individuals to equal representation, eliminating term limits and allowing Bukele to serve as President for life. They have extended voting rights to Salvadorans living outside the country, a group that overwhelmingly supports Bukele. Bukele remains very popular within the country itself despite the increasing authoritarian nature of his governance.
2) In January, mass trials began for the more than 91,000 persons imprisoned under the State of Exception in El Salvador, a law suspending legal rights for persons accused, without evidence, of being gang members. President Bukele says 8,000 “innocent” people have been released, but their charges have not been dropped, and they remain subject to the mass trial procedure at a later date.
Source: Tim Muth, El Salvador Perspectives, (timmuth@substack.com)