El Diario de Hoy gives a brief overview of the blows the country has received as a result of exogenous factors and the actions of the government.
Last year was a particularly difficult year for hundreds of thousands of people. On the one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of thousands of Salvadorans and many others who have suffered the effects of the disease.
Likewise, the incarceration and closure measures have led to the closure of businesses and the loss of thousands of jobs, leaving many Salvadorans vulnerable and removing the doors of poverty.
El Salvador reports nine more deaths from COVID-19, the total number rising to 1,336
Another not insignificant point is how citizens saw their ‘normalcy’ disappear: Due to the high transmissibility of the coronavirus, Salvadorans had to be locked up for a long time, some could not see their relatives and, in the worst case, not say goodbye to those affected by this disease. or other causes have died.
In short, two days ago ended one of the most difficult years in recent history. Unfortunately, it was not only these exogenous factors that marked 2020’s difficult.
Pollution of dialogue
Some countries of the world are getting ahead thanks to their governments and others are sadly trying to make progress despite what the authorities do and decide.
In 2020 El Salvador seemed to belong to the second group. In addition to the dire health, economic and social situation, Nayib Bukele’s government has contributed to complicating the national panorama.
US Congressmen criticize Bukele for “straying” from democracy
The first point, which may seem subtle but is very damaging to the country, is the contamination of political dialogue.
Through the president’s personal networks, his propaganda apparatus and the bullying of some of his officials and fanatics, a systematic attack on opponents and critics of the government was launched throughout the year.
While Nayib Bukele appears to have a broad base of cyclical support, trying to run a country by turning your back on those who have criticism or doubts about the government is difficult, perhaps by attacking them.
This became particularly serious at a time when the country had to make tough decisions to deal with the pandemic. Far from having a dialogue with the political forces and finding difficult solutions by consensus, the president has chosen to make unilateral decisions and to attack those who, even aided by the law, are against these measures.
In the medium and long term, the president is breaking social bridges and making political differences between Salvadorans another factor of division and perhaps hate speech. For a country with a chronic history of violence, it is extremely dangerous to see the adversary as an enemy worthy of being eliminated.
Bukele v. Sala: “If I had been a dictator, I would have shot them all. You save a thousand lives in exchange for five “
In this sense, in 2020 the police and the military were transformed into armed weapons of the political intentions of the president of the republic. These lent themselves to illegal and draconian measures during the pandemic, as well as harassing opponents, such as the fateful February 9, in which the president ordered an armed takeover of the legislature.
A country where the security forces respond to political whims and not the law is on the verge of massive political persecution, typical of the worst authoritarianisms.
Aside from this constant division, the government has also failed to engage in a dialogue with doctors and scientists to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, and as German media masterfully dubbed Deutsche Welle in March, Bukele was confronted with the pandemic “with militarized improvisation”.
Containment centers remain a risk for inmates of becoming infected
A clear example was the management of containment centers, which seemed to be moving away from the sanitary ideal and became prisons for those who allegedly violated quarantine, as well as centers of contamination and where many died.
El Salvador also lost the ability to monitor its government officials and how they use public resources, with a systematic breakdown of the transparency and accountability tools. This section highlights the Institute’s weakening of access to public information that allowed a country to emerge from the shadows in 8 years of how it uses the resources everyone contributes.
Finally, the government has put the country into debt without concrete implementation plans worth hundreds of millions of dollars and in opaque opacity. There they also lose the children and grandchildren of Salvadorans who see their country plunging into a deep economic and fiscal crisis.
Things not to forget:
Tainted political dialogue
Nayib Bukele’s government, through the messages of the president himself, his propaganda media, and his officials and fanatics, has sought to delegitimize the idea of political opposition, a fundamental pillar of a democracy, suggesting that opponents are enemies of removal. This hatred undermines discussions that require high-level agreements.
Improvisation in the pandemic
One thing the country missed in 2020 was the chance to tackle the pandemic by listening to doctors and technicians. On the contrary, the government relied on ill-drafted executive orders, militarized improvisation, and a president who couldn’t spot mistakes. These failures are said to be responsible for thousands of infections and many deaths.
Lack of transparency
While past governments have been overshadowed by corruption and attempts to avoid being held accountable, the current government has made significant efforts to keep out of the public eye details of how it spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the pandemic. It also weakened key institutions responsible for monitoring the use of state resources.
It denatured the PNC and the armed forces. AA.
Since the peace accords, El Salvador has taken a route to professionalize the security forces. However, Nayib Bukele’s government has treated these bodies as the armed arms of the president’s political whims, and they have even violated judicial and legislative orders, protected by the support and orders given to them by the president.
Galloping indebtedness
It is normal for the government to seek far more resources during a pandemic than in a normal period. It is a good thing that you have room to maneuver to request resources. What it is not worth is to put the country into debt, but to execute the money without planning, with opacity, and in many cases awarding contracts to relatives, friends and even officials.
Meritocracy, a distant ideal
Nayib Bukele’s government is filled with very expensive officials who do not meet the minimum requirements for their positions or who hold positions created especially for them without being of greater use. Not only does this increase the cost of the state, but it leaves the most skilled people out of decision-making and rewards servitude.