Dismissals in El Salvador raise alarm in international community

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday, May 3, the international community expressed its unanimous concern over the situation of the rule of law in El Salvador after the dismissal of magistrates from the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and the Attorney General.

El Salvador has plunged into a political crisis since Saturday when the government sector took the reins of Parliament for the 2021-2024 term and in its first action voted to dismiss the high court magistrates, with whom Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele had clashes over the past year.

After learning of their dismissal, the Constitutional Chamber issued a ruling declaring the vote unconstitutional, an action that several attorneys believe renders it null and void.

On Monday, the UN (United Nations) and the European Union (EU) joined the adverse reactions to the events in El Salvador; earlier the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United States expressed their concern for the political situation.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is the highest-ranking official who has spoken out on behalf of the U.S. government, with which Nayib Bukele is not experiencing a good relationship.

RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND ATTACK ON THE RULE OF LAW

UN Secretary General António Guterres on Monday called on El Salvador to respect the Constitution and the separation of powers in order to preserve the democratic progress the country achieved after 12 years of civil war (1980-1992).

Guterres, through his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, said he is closely monitoring the situation in the Central American country and that he “is aware of the concerns expressed regarding the procedures used for the dismissal of members of the Constitutional Chamber.”

The European Union’s (EU) position was more critical, considering the actions of the Legislative, supported by Bukele, as an attack against the rule of law.

The EU representatives in El Salvador, as well as the U.S. diplomatic mission, had not expressed themselves before.

“The decisions taken by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on May 1st to dismiss magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Attorney General of the Republic, and the subsequent new appointments, undermine the rule of law and the separation of powers in the country,” according to a statement from the European External Action Service.

The EU said it expects that “the legal rights and physical integrity of magistrates will be guaranteed at all times in the exercise of their duties.”

The independence of the judiciary in El Salvador must be safeguarded, the EU added, “to ensure the full separation of powers and preserve the country’s strong democratic tradition.”

PRESIDENT BUKELE REACTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Since Saturday, president Bukele has been reacting on his Twitter account to criticism from the international community, albeit with no direct reference to specific organizations or officials.

“Here we took 30 years to overthrow the regime that had us in misery, corruption, insecurity and hopelessness. They negotiated with the people’s lives and ordered assassinations from the institutions (there are videos of that),” he said, although presenting no evidence.

And he added: “The people did not send us to negotiate. They are leaving. All of them.”

Among the proposals for the past February 28th election campaign, there was none that proposed the removal of officials elected by previous legislatures.

“If the opposition wins in Nicaragua, they would leave the Court and the Sandinista Prosecutor. If the opposition manages to win in Honduras, they would leave JOH’s (Juan Orlando Hernández) Court and Prosecutor. If the opposition wins in Venezuela, they would leave the Chavista Court and Prosecutor (…) I mean, for the sake of balancing forces,” he posted.

ECONOMIC CRISIS WARNING

Some twenty civil society organizations on Monday warned of the potential for an economic crisis in El Salvador after the dismissal of the incumbent magistrates and the Attorney General.

Economist Ricardo Castaneda, El Salvador coordinator for the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (ICEFI), said that “often people think that the democratic aspects are separated from the economic aspects but this is not so; sooner or later a democratic crisis translates into an economic crisis.”

He pointed out that what is happening in El Salvador “could lead, for example, to an increase in the price of goods and services -in other words, an increase in inflation-, an increase in unemployment, which in turn translates into an increase in debt and also an increase in poverty and inequality.”

Castaneda pointed out that on Monday the prices of bonds in the international markets “fell very sharply in the case of El Salvador, which is the first impact that one can observe.”

According to Bloomberg data, El Salvador’s dollar bonds maturing in 2025 fell 5.9%, the largest single-day drop since March 18th, 2020.

UNCERTAINTY OVER NEW DECISIONS

Parliament’s leadership council is meeting in private, and it is unclear whether the president of the council, Ernesto Castro, will call a plenary session of the legislature.

According to local press information, the pro-government deputies, whose bloc totals 64 members out of the 84 in Congress, are also proposing the dismissal of Court of Auditors magistrates, the Human Rights Ombudsman, José Apolonio Tobar, and Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) magistrates.