According to articles 131 and 158 of the constitution, the presidents of the republic must request permission from the legislative body to leave the country.
“The President of the Republic is prohibited from leaving the national territory without the consent of the Legislative Assembly,” states Article 158 of the Republic’s Constitution; However, according to opposition representatives, President Nayib Bukele traveled to Washington without the approval of the Assembly.
“The President of the Republic has left the country without the consent of the Legislative Assembly, as ordered by the Constitution, it is the responsibility of the Attorney General to take the relevant measures,” said ARENA Deputy René Portillo Cuadra.
Legislative Decree 540 of January 9, 2020 is the last approved by the General Assembly to authorize President Bukele to travel abroad.
SEE ALSO: Bukele is traveling to Washington and no Biden administration official wanted to receive him
The decree states that in the period from January 10, 2020 to December 31, 2020, Bukele will be able to leave the national territory “to carry out official missions already planned for that date.”
“A president of the republic has never been allowed to leave the country, it is a courtesy protocol, it has never been denied in the history of the People’s Congress, nor to him (Bukele) himself. In legal terms, it is equivalent to a notice, the country must be notified when the president is not there for all practical purposes, even because it is the vice president who takes over the functions of the president. A country cannot remain without a head of state, so it must report this. Bukele no doubt left the country within the month of January, they did not receive him in Washington, there in the White House, it is something else, but he left without asking permission, he left the ship with the helm free without a single driver, Said PDC Deputy Rodolfo Parker.
President Bukele’s permits for the above period were as follows: to Guatemala for the inauguration of that country’s President in January 2020; on a working visit to Washington, DC, United States in March 2020; to an event of textile manufacturers in the United States in April 2020; during the June 2020 presidential tour to mainland Asia, including Korea, India and Singapore.
SEE ALSO: US Congressmen are urging Bukele to stay away from speeches about political violence
As well as the SICA Presidents Summit, in Honduras last June; to Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, at the inauguration of the President of that country; to New York, United States to LXXV United Nations General Assembly in September 2020; on a presidential trip to Europe including Spain, Germany and France in November 2020; at the XXVII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State or Government in Andorra last November; and to the summit of SICA presidents in Nicaragua last December.
Yesterday it was learned that Bukele had traveled to Washington with the intention of meeting with officials of President Joe Biden’s administration, but he was not received.
A Washington source with first-hand information from President Biden’s team informed El Diario de Hoy that Bukele wanted to meet with the State Department, equal to the U.S. Chancellery, and Juan González, chief adviser to the National Home Security Council. the Western Hemisphere, but requests were denied.
The source close to the White House, consulted by El Diario de Hoy, stated that denying Bukele’s meeting request and González’s interview sends a fairly clear message: “The rule of law, respect for basic standards in a democracy become important to the Biden government. based on these principles and not ideology. “
However, Bukele replied to his Twitter account regarding the information disclosed of his trip to Washington, “Anyone who believes a president will travel to another country to sit down and ask for meetings should make sure that he has a brain. More than 100 years ago they invented the telephone (without taking other technologies into account), so as not to call ahead and coordinate an appointment ”.