On 12 December, thousands of people took to the streets in El Salvador’s capital San Salvador to protest against the government led by President Nayib Bukele.
Analysis:
Bukele retains high approval ratings, but discontent has continued to mount over his perceived authoritarianism, and the protests were one of the biggest in the capital since he took office in June 2019. This discontent has gathered pace since September amid reforms to the judicial career law, widely condemned as a blow to judicial independence; a ruling by the supreme court’s constitutional chamber (SC) lifting the ban on immediate presidential re-election; and the adoption of cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender. Adding to this mix are fresh concerns about government corruption following new US sanctions imposed last week on three top Bukele allies – Carolina Recinos, the chief of cabinet; deputy security minister and director of prisons Osiris Luna; and Carlos Marroquín, the director of Unidad de Reconstrucción de Tejido Social (URTS) (a body which operates under the interior ministry to address the gang crisis).
- Those taking part in yesterday’s protests included judges, human rights activists, environmentalists, former guerrillas, war veterans, trade union members and representatives of other civil society groups. There was also a big police (PNC) and army presence, with roadblocks around the capital.
- The latest sanctions, which were announced on 8 and 9 December by the US State Department and US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac), accuse Recinos of engaging in “significant corruption by misusing public funds for personal benefit and participating in a money laundering scheme”. Luna and Marroquín are accused of involvement in “significant corruption by misappropriating public funds and interfering in public processes for personal profit”.
- According to Ofac, the sanctions involving Luna and Marroquín also relate to alleged covert negotiations between government officials and incarcerated leaders of gangs such as US Treasury-designated Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13), echoing reports which emerged most recently by investigative media El Faro.
- According to Ofac, the two led, facilitated, and organised secret meetings involving incarcerated gang leaders, in which known gang members were allowed to enter the prison facilities and meet with senior gang leadership as part of the government’s efforts to negotiate a secret truce with gang leadership.
- Ofac also accused the Bukele government of “provid[ing] financial incentives” to MS-13 and the other main street gang Barrio-18 to reduce homicides and said the gangs agreed to provide political support to the ruling Nuevas Ideas (NI) ahead of the February 2021 legislative elections which saw the NI win an unprecedented two-thirds majority.
- Recinos, Luna, and Marroquín face visa restrictions from the US State Department, and all property and interests in property of these individuals, in the US or in the possession or control of persons subject to US jurisdiction, continue to be blocked, and must be reported to Ofac.
- As well as fanning public concerns regarding government corruption, the latest US sanctions have also placed a further strain on bilateral relations which are already at a low after President Bukele accused the US of financing the political opposition.
Looking Ahead: In a move further likely to inflame tensions with the US, which has increasingly made known its discontent with his administration over democracy-related issues, Bukele accused Washington of financing the protests yesterday. He tweeted “US taxpayers should know that their government is using their money to fund communist movements against a democratic elected…government in El Salvador”