Nayib Bukele praised China for investing in El Salvador and received a strong warning from the United States

Salvadoran President, Here to watch, praised China for its investments in the country and received a stern warning from the United States. “$ 500 million in non-refundable and unconditional public investment. 2 FOMILENIOS in 1. (And without compensation)The president expressed via his Twitter account.

About, Julie chung, Acting Undersecretary of the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the US Department of State, responded, “Mr President, nothing from China comes without conditions“.

The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on Tuesday ratified a cooperation agreement for the construction and donation of infrastructure works in the country of Central America.

The framework agreement for “economic and technical assistance between the government of the People’s Republic of China and the government of the Republic of El Salvador” was approved by 66 votes of the 84 deputies of Congress, with a large pro-government majority .

Although Bukele spoke of “$ 500 million in public investment”, the approved document does not indicate the total amount that the infrastructure works will cost.

The agreement, signed by the governments of El Salvador and China in September 2019, had no further discussion and was not read in responsible committee or in plenary.

A public document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentions an agreement to “Non-refundable donation” for 400 million yuan, or more than $ 62 million.

These funds would be intended to finance the construction of a library in the capital, a water treatment plant in the coastal area and another treatment plant for a lake near the capital.

Plans agreed with China, according to ruling New Ideas (NI) party deputies, include a national stadium and a new pier.

Agreement details

The ratified agreement indicates that the projects will be linked to “social protection sectors”, Such as public infrastructure, water and sanitation, energy, health, education, social protection, culture, tourism, sports and transport, according to a copy posted on the page transparency of the Salvadoran Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The Chinese side offers production materials, technical products or individual equipment, with the necessary technical servicesThe document says.

El Salvador, with the ratification, undertook to “lift immigration registration limits for Chinese project staff, as well as their spouses and linear relationships“.

In addition, Chinese workers’ wages will be tax exempt Yes the medical treatment they need will be carried out “in accordance with Salvadoran laws”.

Materials imported by China will also be exempt from tax. In addition, El Salvador will be responsible for the reception, internal transit and storage of materials.

El Salvador announced on August 20, 2018 the severance of relations with Taiwan to establish ties with China, when the country was ruled by the left Salvador Sánchez Cerén, of the Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation (FMLN, on the left).

This ratification came at a time when relations between El Salvador and the United States were under strain.. These tensions escalated after the Legislative Assembly vote suppress five magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and of the Attorney General.

The Government of the United States is one of the most critical of this measure and the Special Envoy to the Northern Triangle of Central America, Ricardo Zuniga, indicates that “the best solution to the crisis that has opened is to return to the previous situation“.

The US State Department has also declassified a list of Salvadoran officials and politicians believed to be linked to corruption and drug trafficking. Among those mentioned, Bukele’s chief of staff, Carolina recinos, one of the officials closest to the Salvadoran president.

Bukele’s posture change

Following the approval of the deal with China, in the last few hours a video has gone viral in which Bukele said that “China does not follow the rules. They don’t respect the rules, they don’t respect the rules of the trade, they make plans that are not viable and leave countries with huge debts which cannot be paid ”.

And he added, “They manipulate their currency and then they want you to respect their manipulation of the currency. They are not a democracy but they enter your democracy “.

“We want to be friends with China, but China must be friends with us, not with money or investments, with respect», Declared some time ago the head of state of the country of Central America.

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