US Under Secretary of State discusses with Bukele “the need to strengthen democracy” in El Salvador

The US Under Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, on Wednesday met Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, with whom she discussed the need to strengthen democracy and promote an independent judiciary.

Nuland arrived in El Salvador on Tuesday evening with a large delegation, including Acting Under Secretary of State for the United States Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung and Assistant Under Secretary of Defense for the Hemisphere Western, Daniel Erikson.

The Undersecretary held meetings today with representatives of civil society organizations, private companies and some members of the Legislative Assembly.

More, He met Bukele, who was accompanied by Defense and Foreign Ministers Rene Merino Monroy and Alexandra Hill respectively.

“We had a long meeting with President Bukele, with his Minister of Defense and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs”the senior official said in a press statement.

He noted that his “message to President Bukele on behalf of President (Joe) Biden and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken was very simple: The United States values ​​this relationship, we need the strongest partner, the cleanest and most democratic in El. Saviour”.

Nuland said he spoke “frankly” with President Bukele about the “essential need to strengthen democratic institutions and the need to preserve, promote and defend all those democratic principles that make us who we are.”

They also discussed promoting an independent judiciary, a prosecutor and judges chosen through a transparent and merit-based process, he said.

In addition, the official spoke of “the importance and the need” to create an independent body for monitoring corruption, which succeeds the International Commission against Impunity in El Salvador (Cicies), of the Organization of American States ( AEO). with which Bukele’s government severed its relations.

“It was a very frank exchange on strengthening our democracies, we talked about the need to have a separation of powers and to have a strong rule of law, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it protects citizens “Nuland said.

During the meeting with President Bukele, it was also stated that the independent press is the lifeblood of a democracy and must be defended, he said.

Relations between El Salvador and the United States are not at their best after the departure of the American executive of Donald Trump, which President Nayib Bukele considers “nice and cool”.

The US government is one of the most critical of the removal of judges from the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and Attorney General Raúl Melara by Parliament, dominated by New Ideas, the president’s party.

A WORK PLAN WITH AN ESSENTIAL PARTNER

The Under-Secretary of State indicated, without specifying it, that during the meeting with the president a work plan was drawn up “very ambitious which will be drawn up in the weeks and months to come”.

“I am fully convinced that if we follow this work plan, we can take our relationship to the next level for the good of our peoples (…) we are here for a very simple reason: because the bilateral relationship between United States and El Salvador is important to us. , Washington cares ”, declared.

The official assured that “El Salvador is a vital partner for us in the region on every front”.

ADOPTION OF BITCOINS

One of the topics discussed by Nuland and Bukele was the adoption of bitcoin as a payment method.

The official said it was about “making sure that it is well regulated, transparent, accountable and that they are protected from evil actors.”

Congress, with a large pro-government majority, approved the Bitcoin law on June 9, which generated conflicting opinions, mainly due to the risk of the country becoming a tax haven that encourages money laundering and tax evasion.

The regulations make El Salvador the first country in the world to make cryptocurrency legal tender.

(With information from EFE)

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