News shorts

A collection of some short news capsules from recent news in El Salvador.

 El Salvador kept paying DC lobbyist after claim he was fired  (AP, Feb. 6, 2021) -- In August, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's office told the AP that a contract  with Washington lobbyist Robert Stryk  had been cancelled after it was brought to the president's attention.  But filings with the US government by the lobbyist actually show meetings with US government officials as late as December 7 and payments of more than $200,000 through November 2020.  According to Josh Goodman of AP, "Stryk was one of the most successful lobbyists during the Trump presidency, racking up clients facing sanctions or with bruised reputations in Washington that white-shoed firms stayed away from like the governments of Venezuela and Somalia and backers of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange." 

Biden administration suspends Trump asylum deals with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras (Reuters, Feb. 6, 2021) -- In a statement, State Department Secretary Antony Blinken said the United States had “suspended and initiated the process to terminate the Asylum Cooperative Agreements with the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras as the first concrete steps on the path to greater partnership and collaboration in the region laid out by President Biden.”

Inside a Prison Cell for Gay Former Gang Members in El Salvador -- This weekend the documentary "Unforgivable"  premiered online in El Salvador and the rest of the world .  Time magazine has this story on the making of the film which has some Oscar buzz surrounding it in the documentary short category.  Through Monday, Feb. 8, you can watch it on VIMEO here

MSF suspends work in San Salvador area after ambulance attacked (alJazeera, Jan. 31, 2021) -- Doctors Without Borders suspended its operations in El Salvador temporarily after an attack by alleged gang members on one of its ambulances.   There were no serious injuries resulting from the attack.

El Salvador electoral body wants observers deployed early (alJazeera, Feb. 2, 2010) --  El Salvador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal is requesting that international organizations arrive earlier in the electoral process after the attack on FMLN supporters on January 31.

El Salvador extradites ex-soccer chief to U.S. on corruption charges (Reuters, Jan. 29, 2021) --   "El Salvador on Friday extradited the former president of the Salvadoran Football Federation (FESFUT), Reynaldo Vasquez, to the United States to face charges of money laundering and fraud, prosecutors in the Central American country said....Vasquez, who chaired FESFUT between 2009 and 2010, was on a list of 16 people accused of bribery-related offenses linked to agreements over broadcasting rights for World Cup qualifying matches at the 2014 and 2018 tournaments."

Moody's confirms El Salvador's B3 ratings, changes outlook to negative, concluding review for downgrade (Moody's Investor Service, Feb. 5, 2021) -- The bond rating service Moody's changed the outlook on El Salvador's debt from stable to negative, but there was no downgrade, and so El Salvador's government is trying to spin this news as positive.


Comments

Don said…
Tim, are you going to be post some examples of Bukele using hate rhetoric that you claim prompted "political violence"?
I would like to see some evidence that supports your position. Especially now that members of congress are getting involved.


Don said…
It is eye opening to see people without any evidence to support their case go so hard on weaponizing a false narrative and successfully selling it to the media and Congress. It is especially frustrating to see people who were unable to stop (or just didn't try to stop) the U.S. from funding the war in El Salvador now have so much success at pushing a false narrative.

Imagine the lack of self awareness that congressmen from the U.S. must have to criticize Bukele. Our U.S. tax dollars are paying for Salvadorans to be tortured, raped, beaten to death, etc. by ICE and DHS.
Don said…
Look at how insane these people are:
https://twitter.com/robvato/status/1357729522880139267?s=20

U.S. backed neo fascist president?

This is the type of opinions from people that agree with Tim Muth on this stuff. It is absurd. They offer 0 evidence of anything. They just throw around scary words and hope to get people to jump on their bandwagon.