2020 Salvadoran political crisis

The 2020 Salvadoran political crisis was a brief occurrence on 9 February 2020, where Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ordered 1,400 Salvadoran soldiers from the Salvadoran Army to enter the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador to coerce the approval of a loan request of 109 million dollars from the United States for Bukele's security plan for El Salvador.[2]

2020 Salvadoran political crisis
President Nayib Bukele and 40 Salvadoran soldiers in front of the National Palace of El Salvador.
Date9 February 2020
Location
El Salvador
GoalsPressure politicians to approve a 109 million dollar loan for a security plan[1]
MethodsTroop entry into the Legislative Assembly
Resulted inDemonstrations, Supreme Court order to desist
Parties to the civil conflict
Lead figures
Nayib Bukele
René Merino Monroy		 Mario Ponce
El Salvador
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Background

President Nayib Bukele wanted a loan of 109 million dollars from the United States in order to improve the National Civil Police of El Salvador and the Armed Forces of El Salvador for his "Territorial Control Plan."[3] On 7 February, Bukele, under the protection of numeral 7 of article 167 of the Constitution of El Salvador, called on the Council of Ministers to convene in the Legislative Assembly.[4]

Crisis

On 8 February, President Bukele again made use of the Constitution by invoking the use of article 87, which authorizes a popular insurrection in case of breaking the constitutional order.

On 9 February, Bukele entered into the Blue Room by force, accompanied by military personnel, and sat in the chair of Assembly President Mario Ponce. The next day, the Supreme Court of El Salvador prohibited the President from calling the Legislative Assembly, also prohibited all public forces, including the Ministry of Defense, from exercising functions other than those allowed by the Constitution. Bukele expressed dissatisfaction with the order and stated that "the system protects itself", but abided by the Supreme Court's order.

Reactions

Small demonstrations against Bukele were reported, mainly grouped at the University of El Salvador (UES) in San Salvador.[5] Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch described the actions of the President as "dangerous" and "serious," respectively.[4]

Despite public mobilization during the event in support of the loan request and in protest of the Legislative Assembly's abstinence, both the ARENA and FMLN parties accused the use of troops in the Blue Room as a self-coup. Bukele denied the claims of a self-coup stating that "if I was a dictator, I would have taken control of everything."[6] The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front accused that several of its parliamentarians were harassed by the government.[7] The FMLN also stated it will ask for an appeal against Minister of National Defense René Merino Monroy and Rogelio Rivas (Justice and Security of the Public) for their participation in the crisis on 9 February.[8] Felissa Cristales, a politician from the Nationalist Republican Alliance, stated “No Salvadoran can be in favor of this."[9]

On 24 February, Monsignor José Luis Escobar Alas, President of the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador and the Archbishop of San Salvador, asked people to "lower the tone of mutual attacks, or one for the other, because in this way we cannot move forward, because in the end the one that is affected is the people to avoid a new conflict," in reference to the Salvadoran Civil War.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Constitutional crisis in El Salvador over Bukele's security plan". 10 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  2. "Crisis en El Salvador: cuáles son los motivos de la fuerte tensión entre el presidente Nayib Bukele y el Congreso". 10 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  3. "Assembly Standoff Leads to Crisis in El Salvador". 11 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  4. "¿Por qué El Salvador se encuentra ante el precipicio?". 14 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  5. "Débiles protestas contra la actuación de Bukele en el Congreso salvadoreño". 13 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  6. "El Salvador parliament denounces president's 'attempted coup'". 11 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  7. "FMLN recopila denuncias por persecución contra diputados". 13 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  8. "FMLN pide interpelar a Rivas y Merino, Arena aún evalúa". 14 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  9. Patrick J. McDonnell and Alexander Renderos (28 February 2020). "Is El Salvador's millennial president a reformer or an autocrat?".
  10. "La Iglesia llama a "bajar el tono" ante la crisis política en El Salvador para evitar un nuevo conflicto". 24 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
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