Being a political appointment, not a career diplomat, he will leave the country when Democrat Joe Biden takes office and the person who appointed him, Donald Trump, leaves power.
With Donald Trump stepping down from power on January 20, the US ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Douglas Johnson, will also leave the country.
This was confirmed to El Diario de Avui by various sources inside and outside the American Embassy, who received information about the diplomat’s departure.
Being a political appointment, not a career diplomat, Ronald Johnson’s position responded more to a line of Donald Trump’s government than to the State Department.
Matt Boland, Public Affairs Adviser at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, told Today’s News that “lyou ambassadors are appointed by the president and must be confirmed by the United States Senate. After an election, if the President is not re-elected, it is customary for all U.S. ambassadors to present a letter of resignation to the President. ”
The diplomatic delegation official added that “following this tradition and the White House Memorandum for Presidential Appointments, the Ambassador and Ms. Johnson will leave the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador on January 20, 2021. “and said that” the United States wants to help improve security, create economic growth and promote good governance in El Salvador. These goals have not changed substantially for a decade and the important thing is that if El Salvador is safe and prosperous it’s good for the United States too. ”
Boland has stated that “we have had these major milestones under Republican presidents and Democratic presidents and I believe the United States and El Salvador will remain focused on these shared milestones.”
SEE: Ambassador Ronald Johnson: “US friendship depends on respect for democracy”
General directive
Along the same lines, the Trump administration on Thursday called on all of its politically appointed foreign service personnel to resign, something they had refused to do for a few weeks.
This is a formality that, like many others in the process of transitioning to power, the U.S. government had delayed, while still struggling to find ways to turn around the election results that gave Joe Biden the victory.
A report in the Washington Post reports a directive received by e-mail to the heads of the various government agencies asking them to submit their effective resignation from the moment Biden takes office. This includes ambassadors and politically appointed staff, that is, Ronald Johnson as well.
This call for resignation is usually made by outgoing administrations between election day, in early November, and mid-December.
In Trump’s case, it wasn’t until he said, on Thursday, Jan. 7, that he acknowledged defeat and ensured a peaceful transition. Hours later, however, he said he will not be at the inauguration in Biden.
According to the Washington Post, far from following the tradition of asking for early resignations, the White House even threatened to dismiss staff who were discovered looking for new jobs.
SEE: Freedom of speech is essential to democracy, says Ambassador Johnson
chiaroscuro
Ambassador Ronald Johnson arrived in the country in September 2019, a few months after Nayib Bukele took office.
During his time in El Salvador, there was a closeness between the two countries, after years of tense ties during the governments of the FMLN.
This was initially assessed positively, given that the United States welcomes millions of Salvadorans, many of whom are waiting to regularize their immigration status.
However, Ambassador Johnson has been harshly criticized for keeping quiet or not being firm enough in some episodes of attack on institutionality, the rule of law and fundamental guarantees such as freedom of the press.
When in May 2020, the State Department certified that El Salvador could receive more funds, but added a section mentioning that the Nayib Bukele administration had weakened democratic institutions such as the Legislative Assembly or the Supreme Court of Justice. .
The U.S. equivalent in the chancellery highlighted the military takeover of Congress, led by Bukele in February, and the contempt for failures of the Constitutional Chamber. In addition, it accounted for government efforts to silence critical voices of opponents and journalists. Asked about this at a conference with Bukele, the ambassador simply said that the two countries are friends and that friends do not always have to agree on everything.
In view of the constant attacks on journalists and critical media, and attempts to undermine press freedom, the ambassador said they demand respect for the media, but asked to see that “there are no imprisoned journalists.” However, there is digital harassment of the president, his officials and his fans. There is political manipulation of the government guideline, a blockade of official government sources, and a major disbursement of public funds to fund a network of government propaganda media. These issues were not condemned by Johnson.
When Democratic and Republican lawmakers summoned the Bukele government for its attacks on the institution and the press, the president downplayed them by arguing that they were a very small number. Johnson initially echoed those statements, stating that they were indeed few lawmakers, but later corrected them and said any statement by U.S. congressmen was important.
Throughout his time in El Salvador, Johnson has handled a line consistent with that of the Trump administration, which proceeds in a “transactional” manner. That is, it has given support to the Bukele management, despite dark episodes against the rule of law, in exchange for the Salvadoran government joining the migration policies promoted by the White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS , for acronyms in English).