After two years without condemning the great abuses of power of Nayib Bukele, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, acknowledged this week that democracy is at risk in El Salvador
In a recent conversation, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, noted that El Salvador is facing a worrying situation for democracy.
Without the forcefulness with which other actors have spoken in and out of the country, Almagro expressed in a virtual forum organized by Inter-American Dialogue that “our technical reports show certain levels of alteration of the constitutional order.”
He also added that the OAS has issued some statements in the face of episodes of dismantling of democracy, such as the illegal and forced removal of magistrates from the Constitutional Chamber and the Attorney General of the Republic on May 1.
On May 2, the hemispheric body issued a statement that began: “The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) expresses that, given the decisions taken yesterday by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, it rejects the dismissal of the magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice and that of the Attorney General, Raúl Melara, as well as the actions of the Executive Branch that guided these decisions “.
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In this statement, he recalled that parliamentary majorities cannot be used to undermine pluralist principles or the balance of power.
And four months after that event, Almagro continues to acknowledge that there is a worrying situation in El Salvador. However, he stated that the hemispheric apparatus does not move at the same speed as civil society or non-governmental organizations which, in addition to condemning Bukele’s abuses, demand more force and speed from the OAS. their postures.
This recognition by the Secretary-General, while shy in contrast to the strong condemnations of other actors, contrasts with his initial stances regarding the Nayib Bukele administration.
In the face of his first major abuses of power, such as intolerance of criticism, harassment of his opponents or the militarization of the Legislative Assembly in a failed coup attempt on May 9, 2020, the Secretary General remained silent or, even worse, he justified these facts. In a conversation with young people he stated that the country was living a “vibrant political system” and later described as “hysterical voices” those who denounced these excesses.
But that seems to be changing and the OAS no longer excuses these anti-democratic behaviors from Salvadoran officialdom.
“Very serious case”
Diego García-Sayán, the United Nations Rapporteur for Judicial Independence, also took part in this forum. In his participation, he described the situation of balance of power and democracy in El Salvador as very serious and stated that the country acts like many others who are following an “authoritarian wave in the world.”
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This wave, he explained, has a fundamental pillar: “the attack and demolition of judicial independence.”
In El Salvador, this has been seen in President Bukele’s ignorance of court rulings, in the forced removal of magistrates who limited his power to replace them with people akin to his political project, in recent reforms to the judicial career that would favor a purge of judges, as well as the taking of the Office of the Public Prosecutor to turn it into another arm of officialdom.
Faced with these visible abuses, García-Sayán lamented that “the slowness of democratic countries to react is surprising” and expressed that “they have been taking longer and longer” to speak out when their neighbors are on the brink of collapse. authoritarian abyss.
Faced with this, Argentine jurist Santiago Cantó expressed that “the silence of the States is stunning” and noted a profound “lack of leadership” in the democracies of the hemisphere to uphold these principles.
Just a few days ago, in an interview with CNN, Cantó expressed that with the recent events (taking institutions, purging judges, endorsing re-election), “El Salvador is no longer a democracy.”
In his opinion, the region is experiencing one of its worst moments in terms of democracy and El Salvador is one of those cases.
Kabdillisme “is well alive”
Sociologist and pro-democracy activist Mariclaire Acosta agreed with the diagnosis of Canton and García-Sayán, and considers that democracy and the rule of law are having a hard time in the region.
In his participation in the virtual forum, he lamented that “chivalry is very much alive” despite decades of efforts to institutionalize politics and that it depends on processes, and not on the personal whim of some.
To do this, he placed the examples of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexican president; Nicolás Maduro, his Venezuelan partner; and Salvadoran Nayib Bukele. In all these cases, Acosta added, national politics revolves around his figure and not a web of state policies.
In his view, except in the case of Maduro, the other two leaders came to power through electoral means and from that moment began to erode democratic norms.
And this erosion, he lamented, detracts from the credibility of the work done by hemispheric bodies such as the OAS to safeguard the rule of law and prevent new authoritarianisms in the region.
STRIKES IN DEMOCRACY IN EL SALVADOR
Concentration of power
When all institutions depend on the whim of a person, as is beginning to happen in El Salvador, the rights of all, and especially of critics of the regime, are in great danger.
In El Salvador, a person determines the actions of the Executive, the Legislature, constitutional justice (pillar to prevent abuses of power), the Prosecutor’s Office (which prosecutes or conceals crimes) and seeks to take control of judges.
Politicization of the security forces
In a functional democracy, the police and military must respond to the Constitution and not be used as tools of intimidation, pressure or repression of those who are not aligned with power. Under Nayib Bukele, this legal role of the armed forces is it blurs and they increasingly act on whims of power. For example, military and police took the Assembly to pressure MPs, police executed the May 1 coup, and it was police who illegally captured a young critic of the Bitcoin Act .
On February 9, 2020 Nayib Bukele took the Blue Hall accompanied by long-armed soldiers. The police were also there, he justified, as were the Ministry of Defense, which only provided security. Photo EDH / archive
Harassment of critics
In the two years of Nayib Bukele’s rule, there has been a practice of harassment, harassment and humiliation to those who oppose how power is exercised.
In addition, the journalistic exercise is under attack and there are numerous and significant efforts, as exposed by the U.S. government in May 2020, to “silence critical voices”.
Hide information
A fundamental right is freedom of expression, which in turn has access to information on how the state is managed and public funds.
But the Nayib Bukele administration has captured the instances that ensure transparency and keeps hidden data that serve to understand how they govern, beyond slogans and propaganda.