Massive protest in El Salvador on Independence Day

Although yesterday El Salvador was supposed to celebrate the bicentennial of independence, Salvadorans decided to march for another reason: to protest against the latest decisions of the Bukele administration that keep undermining the rule of the Law, such as the decision of the newly-appointed Supreme Court to allow the reelection of the president, the decision of the Legislative Assembly to remove judges who are over 60 years old and with 30 years of service, and more importantly to protest against the Bitcoin Law.

Sin palabras pic.twitter.com/uki9dtZXQW

— El Marginado (@WalterD20728901) September 15, 2021

Although the turnout was massive, this was somewhat predictable after the mobilization on September 7 that included Salvadoran judges and many people who ended up surrounding the Legislative Assembly. That was the first big mobilization during a weekday that dared to defy the 90-days prohibition of concentrations put in place back in July.

 

As stated by Rodrigo Chillitupa, during a broadcast, “Bukele denounced that the international community is behind the protests, by financing them and backing violent acts that were never seen in El Salvador”, although there is only proof of the participation of a car used by the government in the past, which was used by people perceived as gang members infiltrating the demonstation.

 

 

Besides his accusations, Bukele shared his intentions to pass a law to modify the current pension system. There was no mention of the $1 million dollars that were supposed to be spent in the commemoration of the bicentennial. They also decided not to broadcast when vice-president Felix Ulloa formally presented his proposal to reform the Constitution.

 

“Hasta ahora, en dos años y tres meses de gobierno, no hemos utilizado aún —porque no sé si algún día van a financiar tanto que vaya a llegar a ser necesario, espero que no— ni una tan sola lata de gas lacrimógeno de las que muchos de ustedes, sus gobiernos, utilizan casi a diario”

 

Given the fact that the president chose to say his government has not used tear gas against the population yet, we invite you to support our current fundraising effort, which -among other things- seek to establish a bail fund for Human Right defenders. If you can’t support our efforts now, please spread the word among your contacts and educate them about the situation in El Salvador.

 

 

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