El Salvador Perspectives

Today we have a collection of links from the international press, covering topics from US deportations to E Salvador, to the hotel industry, to the State of Exception and MS-13. Man wrongfully deported to El Salvador must be returned to US, court rules (The Guardian, June 24, 2025) -- An appeals court has ordered the Trump administration to return a man wrongfully deported to El Salvador to the US and to explain how it is complying in a ruling apparently designed to break a pattern of apparent government defiance of judicial orders. Trump administration says ICE could deport Abrego Garcia to country other than El Salvador if he's released from jail (CBS News, June 26, 2025) -- At a hearing in Maryland federal court on Thursday, Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn said that once Abrego Garcia is released from detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to begin removal proceedings to send him to a "third country," rather than El Salvador. Kidnapped ...

In 2019, when he was campaigning for the presidency, Nayib Bukele unveiled plans for a modern international airport in the department of La Union at the eastern edges of El Salvador.  He called it the "Airport of the Pacific," and claimed it would become an international airline bub.  Three years later, in 2022, the government said that Nayib Bukele  would lay the first stone  for the new airport that year.  Nothing happened that year. After three more years have passed, there has finally been a ceremony to lay the first stone.  On February 26, the government broadcast Bukele's speech as he celebrated the beginning of construction of the airport and extolled the benefits it would bring: pic.twitter.com/BlzsMcMGfq — Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 26, 2025 According to Bukele, the airport's first phase is going to have a 2.4 kilometers long runway with two boarding gates and a futuristic looking terminal.  Investment in the first phase of t...

A select group of people is getting very rich in today's El Salvador ruled by Nayib Bukele.  Using tourism development funds and tax policy measures, the Bukele government is allowing an assortment of real estate developers, crypto-investors, and the Bukele family to acquire significant real estate holdings and wealth.   Such policy measures were on display again on February 20 when El Salvador's Legislative Assembly convened without proposals on its agenda.  Then the Nuevas Ideas-controlled body voted to suspend the rules to vote on a new development loan .  Without prior sharing of the underlying documentation, the Assembly voted to approve borrowing $114 million dollars for highway and infrastructure projects for Surf City 1.  "Surf City" is the branding for tourism development along El Salvador's Pacific coast, with phase 1 rolled out from Puerto La Libertad to El Zonte, also known as "Bitcoin Beach." The area which will be benefitted by this new loa...

El Salvador is continuing to experience a tourism boom.   One way to measure this is just be looking at the number of people arriving at the country's international airport.  The number of travelers arriving by air into El Salvador increased from 1.5 million to 2 million, jumping by 33% from 2022 to 2023. By any measure, that is a significant jump and represents a strong indicator that tourism is surging in El Salvador.  The Ministry of Tourism stated that, when entries to El Salvador from neighboring countries were included, there were a total of 3.4 million visitors in 2023.      The country is about to enter an important time of visits.  The Ministry of Tourism is projecting that during Semana Santa, which begins on Saturday, the country will receive 126,000 international visitors, with $110 million in tourism spending and  4.2 million visits to touristic sites, beaches and the Historic Center of San Salvador.  On El Salv...

Maquilishuat tree During the last week of February, El Salvador's national tree, the maquilishuat, burst into bloom all around the country.  Its pink and white flowers adorned yards and roadsides and parks.   In the depths of the dry season when the countryside is dry and brown, the maquilishuat brings a splash of beauty in the weeks leading up to Semana Santa. The scientific name of the maquilishuat is  Tabebuia rosea .  In other parts of the world it is known as the "pink poui", and "rosy trumpet tree" and "roble de sabana".  The tree is predominantly found in subtropical dry forests, is common in Central America, and can grow to a height of 30 meters.   According to El Salvador's environment ministry ,  the maquilishuat has ecosystem relevance since its flowers attract a variety of pollinators, such as bees and hummingbirds.  Its seeds are a source of food for various species of birds and mammals. Some maquilishuat trees along th...

The year 2023 saw increasing arrivals in El Salvador of persons declaring they had arrived in a promised land of freedom.  They are persons from English-speaking countries arriving in El Salvador to escape.  Whether you call them “influencers” or “youtubers” or Bitcoiners”, they go on social media to announce that they have left countries where they felt oppressed by their governments, and only by escaping to El Salvador did they find freedom.  It's a freedom of the rich colonialist, not a freedom guaranteed by the government of El Salvador to all its citizens.     Typical of these exaggerated proclamations that El Salvador is a beacon of freedom is this  article in Bitcoin Magazine  by William Stebbins, a retired US military officer who declares that El Salvador has transformed itself under Bukele "from impoverished vassal to budding sanctuary of freedom."  Stebbins proclaims "Bitcoin’s freedom technology has offered Salvadoreños an opportun...

The Historic Center of El Salvador's capital city, San Salvador is being transformed. Streets which were once crowded and overflowing with an informal economy of street vendors have been emptied.   Historic buildings are being seen once again.  Pedestrians stroll and take selfies as the government seeks to attract tourism and investment into the heart of the City. The overall purpose of the renovation is to encourage tourism in the Historic Center and to create a more “orderly” area of the city.  There is a new  Historic Center website  in Spanish and English which includes maps, virtual tours, and descriptions of available guided tours.  The site even contains links to a new smartphone app to guide visitors through the area. But what of the vendors who formerly earned their subsistence living on those streets? They have been displaced from the center with promises of spots in municipal markets around the City.  The government says they voluntaril...

This week is Semana Santa (Holy Week) in El Salvador.   A week of religious celebrations commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and of vacations and time spent with family.  Although recent polling shows that fewer than 40% of Salvadorans now describe themselves as members of the Roman Catholic church, the cultural flavor of Semana Santa is deeply rooted in centuries of Roman Catholicism.  Here is a collection of videos to share some of the week's events in different parts of the country.  Palm Sunday procession in San Salvador: El #CentroHistóricoSS es la ruta de la fe. La procesión recorre: la iglesia El Rosario, Catedral y puntos emblemáticos. El corazón de El Salvador recibe a miles de feligreses en la primera actividad de la Semana Santa. ✝️⛪️ ¡Sin duda alguna, un día histórico!🌿 pic.twitter.com/xw1QcXwqGo — Alcaldía de San Salvador (@alcaldia_ss) April 2, 2023 Monday of Semana Santa in Sonsonate:   In Texistepeque, los Talcigui...