El Salvador Perspectives

Two opinion polls released in June show president Nayib Bukele continuing to receive high approval ratings from large swaths of the Salvadoran public.  A poll released by La Prensa Grafica , one of the country's major newspapers, reported that 85.2% of the public approve of Bukele's performance in office after six years in the presidency.  A second poll released by the Institute of Public Opinion at the UCA reported that respondents gave  him an average grade of 8.15 on a 0-10 scale for his presidency. Bukele's ratings have ranged between 8.7 and 8.15 in the last 5 years of polls by the UCA. These  latest polls are consistent, and not surprising, in finding that respondents praise the improved public security situation as Bukele's greatest achievement, and point to economic issues as his biggest challenge. The Legislative Assembly and local municipal governments, however, had approval ratings quite a bit below the ratings of Bukele, despite being controlled almost e...

Donald Trump has put in place his campaign promise of massive deportation of undocumented persons in the US.  Those expulsions included 1600 Salvadorans in the month of May, and that number is on an upward trajectory.  The number of Salvadorans living in the US is estimated at 1.4 million.  Of these, 741,000 lack legal immigration status in the US according to data from the Migration Policy Institute . Contrary to narratives coming out of Washington which paint the deportees as gangsters and criminals, several stories of Salvadorans sent back to the country of their birth provide a different reality. This week Yessenia Ruano and her twin daughters arrived in El Salvador. Yessenia had found herself forced to self deport after living the last 14 years in the US. Her options for relief from the immigration court system had ended. Her young girls are both US citizens. Yessenia had made a life for herself as a teacher's aide in a public school in the Milwaukee area. She ...

Nayib Bukele has just had another of his critics arrested.  The government of El Salvador Saturday detained prominent attorney Enrique Anaya.  The constitutional lawyer frequently spoke in public and wrote on social media, about the constitution and the rule of law in El Salvador.  He has been an outspoken critic of Nayib Bukele's capture of the judicial system in El Salvador and violations of the constitution. Anaya is purportedly being charged with money laundering, and his detention follows closely on the heels of the imprisonment of another prominent legal critic of Bukele, Ruth López . In the week before his arrest, Anaya had been vocal critic of Bukele.  On June 3 Anaya was on  Frente a Frente , a television interview show  in El Salvador, saying Bukele was a dictator who had removed "the mask," adding "he is what he is." "Here, whoever speaks, whoever criticizes, whoever does not kneel before the idol, gets imprisoned. Of course, I am afrai...

On June 1, Nayib Bukele delivered a speech to the nation from the National Theater in San Salvador, on the first anniversary of commencing his unconstitutional second term as president.  In a large portion of his address, Bukele described sinister globalist forces who want to thwart his project and return El Salvador to a time of gang-controlled misery.    Early in the speech he stated: They gave us studies, grand projects on how to save us, but deep down, they never believed it was possible, and that's why their solutions were never designed to work. El Salvador was controlled by people with no intention of helping us. Six years ago, we merely began to reclaim our country. Today, El Salvador no longer belongs to foreign actors or their local puppets. Today, El Salvador belongs to the Salvadoran people. Bukele declared that he would never give in to calls by human rights organizations or international media to lift the State of Exception:   Me, personally, they...

I tried but failed to come up with a good thread to weave these stories from the past week together. Waves .  Since last weekend "marea viva" (high tides or king tides) and strong and fast waves have pounded parts of El Salvador's Pacific coast. Beaches in the department of La Libertad, particularly El Majahual, were heavily affected, with waves reportedly reaching heights of two to two and a half meters. The powerful waves led to damage to coastal businesses, with reports of tables and chairs being washed away. Videos shared on social media showed some of the chaos created by the big waves. Around May 25th, at least 50 people sustained injuries at El Majahual due to the strong wave action. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) and Protección Civil issued warnings and advisories, urging the public to exercise caution, and avoid entering the sea during high tides. Access to El Majahual beach was restricted following these incidents.   Schools .  Pre...

After Nayib Bukele's offer to be Donald Trump's jailer for hire, there is a changing story about El Salvador being told in global media.  Bukele the image-maker is now having a toug her time controlling the narrative.  There is growing recognition that, behind the veneer of surfing and Bitcoin and tourism growth, exists a regime which is increasingly authoritarian, imprisons tens of thousands without trial or due process in incredibly harsh conditions, and actively represses journalists, human rights lawyers and community activists. With this loss of control of El Salvador's story-line, Bukele may be regretting the deal he made with Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. When Bukele shared the slick, but brutal, videos of Venezuelan men being dragged into CECOT,  the world's focus shifted from sun-soaked beaches being enjoyed by Bitcoiners to overcrowded Salvadoran prisons.  Journalists asked not just about the show prison called CECOT, but also about conditions in other...

The arrest of a prominent anti-corruption lawyer in El Salvador is highlighting the increased willingness of Nayib Bukele's government to arrest and imprison critics of the regime’s practices. Late Sunday night authorities arrested Salvadoran lawyer Ruth López at her home.  She is the head of the Anti-corruption and Justice unit at Cristosal, the most prominent Salvadoran human rights organization.  Both López and Cristosal have been outspoken critics of the Bukele government for its human rights record and patterns of corruption. The seizure of López comes at a moment when the Bukele regime is taking increasingly hard-line measures against its critics. Other activists and human rights defenders have also been imprisoned this year when they have been defending populations impacted by Salvadoran government policies.  López's is the highest profile arrest yet.  It illustrates that Bukele now feels he can take such actions with impunity. The arrest occurred in ...