9F: Two years after Bukele entered the legislative assembly with the army

Several citizens took to the streets today to remember that two years ago the current president forcibly entered the Legislative Assembly to pressure the members of Congress into approving a loan for his “Territorial Control Plan”

This is what LA PRENSA GRAFICA reports:

The Salvadoran Coordinator of Popular Movements and the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Block called this Wednesday, February 9, for a protest in front of the Legislative Assembly, to demonstrate against authoritarianism in El Salvador two years after the militarization of the building.

February 9, 2020 was an unprecedented day in the country, a day in which President Nayib Bukele burst into the Legislative Assembly together with members of the Armed Forces to preside over a plenary session that had been convened on February 6 by the Council of Ministers and not by the president of the Legislative body.

Prior to the arrival of the protesters, the National Civil Police (PNC) placed a checkpoint and a barricade to prevent the arrival of people at the south gate of the Assembly, where the protest would take place.

Through the symbolic declaration of February 9 as “National Day against Authoritarianism“, the organizations made a call in favor of democracy, peace, human rights and the need for structural changes in favor of the people, which can only take place in a democracy, read their statement.

During the event they raised a coffin that represents “the murder of democracy by the Bukele regime and the servile deputies”.

 

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#EnVideo #LoÚltimo | Sonia Urrutia, del Bloque de Resistencia y Rebeldía Popular, lee el pronunciamiento de movimientos sociales para conmemorar el #9F: condenan la militarización de la @AsambleaSV el 9 de febrero de 2020 y rechazan acciones de @nuevasideas. 📽 @GaboAquino8 pic.twitter.com/tHemN8RpsD

— Diario El Mundo (@ElMundoSV) February 9, 2022

 

The militarization of the Assembly has been described as the beginning of the decline of democracy in El Salvador and as “a coup”. For lawyers and legislators, it was Bukele’s first authoritarian gesture.

At that time, Bukele justified this action as a form of pressure so that the deputies approved a loan for $109 million that would be used for phase III of the Territorial Control Plan (PCT).

According to investigations carried out by (LA PRENSA GRAFICA), said plan, which is an 88-page document, does not contemplate any of the phases that Bukele has mentioned on his social media, nor does the document coincide with the loan that the executive wanted to be approved.

The PCT is the public security policy with which the government claims to have achieved a significant and sustained decrease in homicides. The Plan that, according to the current administration, has kept the gangs at bay.

 

You can watch reporter Roberto Lovato’s thoughts on an alleged truce between the gangs and the Salvadoran government HERE.

 

DIARIO EL MUNDO also reports:

The Vice Chancellor of the UCA, Omar Serrano, arrived minutes later to the concentration, and recounted what happened on February 9, 2020 and May 1, 2021:

What we have seen is an advance and a confirmation of the authoritarian model of the President of the Republic. Practically all opinions that do not applaud the Government’s measures, that are critical and that question the ethics of officials in terms of transparency are being eliminated and once they have taken control of practically all public institutions with the exception of the Court of Accounts, what they intend is to silence the voices of civil society that continue to be a social comptroller and continue speaking the truth.

 

Military coup or security?
On February 9, 2020, the National Civil Police and the Army took the Legislative Assembly. The deputy in charge of security, at that time, was Reynaldo López Cardoza, now a government ally.

Until now, the Government assured that the military that accompanied the president, including the High Command of the Army, were there to provide security to Bukele.

However, this contradicts the version of the deputies, including allies of the Government. One day after 9F, López Cardoza recounts how the director of the PNC, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, told him: “Deputy, excuse me, but we have already entered and we have control of the gates and we need the key to the (Main) Room because the President is going there, otherwise, we are going to knock down the doors”.

 

 

“They were going to open by force by order of the Minister of Security (Rogelio Rivas). The director told me” added López Cardoza, who reiterated that “no one” from the Assembly gave that order.

Both the director of the PNC and the Minister of Defense, René Merino Monroy, were questioned by the previous Legislative Assembly, which recommended their dismissal. The Executive ignored this suggestion.

 

#EnVideo #9F | RT @Sari_Alas: El diputado Guillermo @gallegos, de @GANAOFICIAL, afirmó que "nunca se intentó realizar un golpe de Estado" a la @AsambleaSV. Dice que es "absurda" la conmemoración del 9 de febrero de 2020. pic.twitter.com/jLi2x9Kghh

— Diario El Mundo (@ElMundoSV) February 9, 2022