Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger said the Salvadoran president has “crossed the line” when it comes to democracy, so appointing a strong ambassador is a priority for his country.
In a hearing by State Secretary Antony Blinken before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, one of the congress members present made a clear reference to El Salvador.
Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, called on the Secretary of State (equivalent to a Secretary of State) to “appoint a strong ambassador” to El Salvador. According to the legislator, this is “important to the priorities of the United States”.
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Since Ronald Johnson’s departure on January 20, the United States has not filled that vacancy with an ambassador. The position has been taken over by former consul Brendan O’Brien in his capacity as Chargé d’Affaires.
During his stay, Johnson remained silent in light of abuse by President Nayib Bukele, in accordance with the politics of the Trump administration, friendly to Bukele despite the threats he has made to democracy.
During the hearing, the congressman added that “there are challenges in that country (El Salvador) for a leader who has crossed the line on democratic issues.”
Kinzinger seems to refer to the abuse of power by the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele. In his government, the rule of law, transparency and fundamental freedoms such as those of the press or of speech have been weakened.
A few days after the military takeover of the Legislative Assembly led by Bukele, the same congressman even called for a peaceful solution to the disagreements between state bodies in El Salvador.
This is not the first message from the US Congress to El Salvador or to prevent the abuse of Bukele. Over the course of 2020, after abuse of power and blows to democracy, numerous letters signed by lawmakers reached the country.
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For the most part, they came from Democrats who rejected the transactional way the Donald Trump administration treated El Salvador: full political support in return for submission to its immigration policies.
However, a group of influential Republicans, including one of former President Donald Trump’s referees on hemispheric affairs, Cuban-American Mario Díaz-Balart, also demanded an end to abuse of power and restrictions on journalism.
And with a new Democratic government, with Joe Biden at the helm, Kinzinger joins the Republicans who demand that the North American country speak more clearly about the blows to democracy in El Salvador.
These coups d’état, along with corruption and lack of opportunity, play a role in motivating thousands of people every year to irregularly leave the country and try to emigrate to the United States. That is the diagnosis of the Biden government, which has already announced that its priority for the region remains irregular migration, but unlike the previous government, it will focus not only on detaining migrants but also on tackling the causes causing the mass exodus. .
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