The director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas Division claims that with Joe Biden’s administration in the United States, “the party will end for the Salvadoran president.”
José Miguel Vivanco, director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, said President Nayib Bukele has “taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic in a“ blatant way ”to concentrate power while weakening control, braking and reducing weights contained in Salvadoran democracy to ensure democratic exercise of power and prevent and prevent human rights violations.
Bukele has ignored it, he has laughed at the repeated Supreme Court rulings demanding respect for the country’s constitution, and the crisis of the pandemic has come to him like a ring on the finger to fall back in terms of democratic controls and public freedoms in El Salvador, ”said Vivanco.
He believes President Nayib Bukele will “end the party when the Joe Biden administration begins,” on January 20, as during Donald Trump’s administration, and with the silence and in some cases applause, of the former ambassador from the United States. States in El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, the president felt that he had a free hand to “continue making and undoing”.
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The human rights defender points out that with Democrats’ scrutiny in the House and Senate, it will be possible to effectively slow down President Bukele so that he does not continue to destroy democratic institutions as he has done.
Vivanco made the comments while presenting Human Rights Watch’s global report on human rights, summarizing the situation in the Latin American region.
Regarding the next elections in El Salvador, he points out that he hopes they will be held with transparency, freedom and credibility.
“We will continue to monitor the situation in El Salvador closely because we must prevent El Salvador from becoming a dictatorship. I insist that it is a democracy that has a caudillo like Bukele, but has so far shown great consistency in its democratic institutions in defense of the values that protect the political constitution, ”says Vivanco.
He believes that, unlike Nicaragua, there is no dictatorship in El Salvador, despite the actions of President Bukele, “who is making extraordinary efforts to transform the country into his personal dictatorship.”
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“The surprise of El Salvador is that despite being a young democracy, it has shown that it has an independent judiciary, with Supreme Court magistrates who have had the courage, courage and integrity to work tooth and nail. to defend. Constitution, ”says Vivanco.
He adds that there are also political parties, authorities like the prosecution service that could be stronger and more active, but have a significant degree of autonomy.
“I wish (the Public Prosecution Service) would be much more active in defense, investigating crimes or state violations, not only in human rights but also in areas such as corruption,” said the human rights defender.
It states that in El Salvador there is a very strong society and a private sector that is active and defends the values of an open and democratic society.
“I think the track hit Mister Bukele hard by choosing Biden. Biden knows Central America very well and has been very well advised about the fragility of the democratic system and the need to strengthen democratic institutions, especially in Central America and especially El Salvador, ”Vivanco emphasizes.
Region with a lack of leadership in human rights
“Last year was probably one of the worst years in the field of human rights, I would say in the last three decades, it has been a very difficult year for the cause of human rights, for the first time we suffer in this region which I think is appropriate to qualify as the consolidation of three dictatorships, that of (Nicolás) Maduro (in Venezuela), that of (Daniel) Ortega (in Nicaragua) and that of Cuba, ”he said.
He adds that 2020 can see the consolidation of these three dictatorships, despite the pressure at the international level and the complaints and documentation that exist about crimes committed by these countries.
Vivanco believes there is a lack of leadership in the human rights cause in the region, which is notorious in countries like Brazil and Mexico that are led by populist leaders and demagogues, as there is a deep disregard for democratic values in both cases , for civil liberties, for human rights and the rule of law.
He believes this is because there is a lack of Latin American voices capable of moving and defending the cause of human rights, while the lack of credibility of these governments is not helping to improve the situation of human rights at regional level.
Added to this is the administration of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whose despotic and populist behavior contributes to the climate of unease over human rights issues.
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It points out that the COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated deep inequality and conditions in which the pandemic has been kept under control by using unskilled police forces, acting with impunity and violent action, and in many cases becoming corrupt through abuse of power.
In this context of the pandemic, freedom of information and freedom of the press have suffered great losses, Vivanco says, especially by leading governments such as El Salvador, with Nayib Bukele’s presidency, where press and freedom of the press have been restricted. Access to the information.
Vivanco exposed the case of Mexico, where it is dangerous to practice the journalism profession as 23 journalists have died for conducting investigations into corruption or drug trafficking, where he says no serious effort is being made to end the phenomenon , nor are the cases being investigated.
Regarding the role of the Organization of American States (OAS), Vivanco points out that the current Executive Secretary, Luis Almagro, has focused on the dictatorships of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, which need international attention because they are consolidated, but it has been too selective when there are other countries that deserve scrutiny, indictment and continued vigilance against setbacks in human rights issues. A good example of this is the case of Bukele in El Salvador.
“But they are not the only ones, they are not the only places where there are setbacks in the areas of human rights, fundamental rights, public freedoms and also the exercise of democracy.”