Apparently, the Biden administration’s relationship with El Salvador is on rocky ground. You should know that the ideology left doesn’t like Nayib Bakele who has just completed his fifth five-year term.
For example, here’s Amnesty International painting him as some kind of horrific dictator. Yet, when you drill down into their arguments, they appear to be that 1) he doesn’t support abortion, 2) he criticizes the press openly, and 3) that his party won a majority and has used that power to constitute their policies.
The right to voice an opinion and freedom of association, as well as the ability for women to decide about their bodies, have all been ignored or dragged aside since he was elected.
There are no examples where the right to express opinions has been violated at a legal level. However, they do note that Bukele had publicly attacked the national press corps.
First, Bukele effectively declared open season on independent journalists, lawyers, human rights activists, and anybody who dared criticise him or his administration’s policies. Online, he began his campaign. badmouthed dismissedThey do a lot of work. He branded activists as “criminals”, “seeking the death of more people” during the toughest months of the COVID-19 pandemic and of being “front organizations” fof the “political opposition”.
What makes this any different from Jen Psaki’s and Anthony Fauci’s claims that Fox News kills people? The answer is that it’s not, but there’s this weird thing the American government and its ideological allies do where they freak out on other countries for doing the same things they do.
But the point is not to say that Bukele snow is as pure and unpolluted as wind-driven. Rather, I’m just pointing out that context matters. He took over a country drenched in corruption, carrying the world’s highest homicide rate and a narco-dependent economy. If Bukele has stepped over the line compared to what we would accept in the United States, it’s still important to remember that not every country can operate exactly as we do and produce positive results for its people. Afghanistan’s collapse and the literal slave markets in Libya are stark reminders that naive idealism isn’t a governing strategy in certain parts of the world.
Regardless, now that I’ve given the teeth gnashers plenty of material, let’s talk about Bukele’s fight with the Biden administration this weekend. The president of El Salvador had accused the US government before that it was funding left-leaning communists within the country.
The US taxpayer should be aware that the government of El Salvador is funding communist groups against an elected democratic government with 90% approval.
It’s not working though 😂
The people of El Salvador won’t go back to that terrible past. pic.twitter.com/xPa3YA9xdO
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) December 12, 2021
The White House reacted publicly to the incident on Twitter.
These unwarranted personal attacks attempt to distract the Salvadoran people from corruption in the Bukele administration and they damage El Salvador’s relationship with the U.S.
— Brian A. Nichols (@WHAAsstSecty) December 9, 2021
Bukele responded to the request by sending private messages asking the US Ambassador for El Salvador to release Neto Muyshondt. Musyshondt has been charged previously with drug trafficking and using state funds to pay gangsters.
The United States seems to be very interested in Muyshondt’s release for some reason.
False allegations?
Jean Manes actually asked me to free Neto Muyshondt, who was captured in video and gave tens to thousands of dollars to the gang members.
Would you like me to keep going? https://t.co/KIy3Ix1zVH pic.twitter.com/BUB76MO68o
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) December 9, 2021
Here’s where I’m confused. Let’s say that Bukele is actually ignoring a court order (though, this article claims there’s a provision to legally keep Muyshondt in jail based on an increased financial guarantee). The United States is concerned about a man who was videotaped paying violent gang members for cocaine trafficking. Why should we care whether he’s released or not? Why is it that Ambassador Manes, out of all the other people who could be playing for Neto Muyshondt instead?
They aren’t asking the right questions. Is this what the US government has become involved in? Let’s also note that Bukele, whatever the complaints against him, has actually dramatically decreased the murder rate in El Salvador, and until the pandemic hit, their GDP was rising as well.
I say that to say that the US position here doesn’t make any sense. Our work includes working with people in less-than-perfect leadership, even dictators. But it’s El Salvador that we want to try to bully over a guy who appears to be legitimately in jail for working with the narcos? The US hasn’t questioned Muyshondt’s validity. What is the real story?
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