El Salvador approves indefinite presidential reelection and extends terms to 6 years
Lawmaker Ana Figueroa from the New Ideas party had proposed the changes to five articles of the constitution. The proposal also included eliminating the second round of the election where the two top vote-getters from the first round face off.
New Ideas and its allies in the Legislative Assembly quickly approved the proposals with the supermajority they hold. The vote passed with 57 in favor and three opposed.
Bukele overwhelmingly won reelection last year despite a constitutional ban, after Supreme Court justices selected by his party ruled in 2021 to allow reelection to a second five-year term.
Observers have worried that Bukele had a plan to consolidate power since at least 2021, when a newly elected Congress with a strong governing party majority voted to remove the magistrates of the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court. Those justices had been seen as the last check on the popular president.
Since then, Bukele has only grown more popular. The Biden administration's initial expressions of concern gave way to quiet acceptance as Bukele announced his run for reelection. With the return of US President Donald Trump to the White House in January, Bukele had a new powerful ally and quickly offered Trump help by taking more than 200 deportees from other countries into a newly built prison for gang members.
Figueroa argued Thursday that federal lawmakers and mayors can already seek reelection as many times as they want.
'All of them have had the possibility of reelection through popular vote, the only exception until now has been the presidency,' Figueroa said.
She also proposed that Bukele's current term, scheduled to end June 1, 2029, instead finish June 1, 2027, to put presidential and congressional elections on the same schedule. It would also allow Bukele to seek reelection to a longer term two years earlier.
Marcela Villatoro of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena), one of three votes against the proposals, told her fellow lawmakers that 'Democracy in El Salvador has died!'
'You don't realize what indefinite reelection brings: It brings an accumulation of power and weakens democracy … there's corruption and clientelism because nepotism grows and halts democracy and political participation,' she said.
Suecy Callejas, the assembly's vice president, said that 'power has returned to the only place that it truly belongs … to the Salvadoran people.'
Bukele did not immediately comment.
Bukele, who once dubbed himself 'the world's coolest dictator,' is highly popular, largely because of his heavy-handed fight against the country's powerful street gangs.
Voters have been willing to overlook evidence that his administration like others before it had negotiated with the gangs, before seeking a state of emergency that suspended some constitutional rights and allowed authorities to arrest and jail tens of thousands of people.
His success with security and politically has inspired imitators in the region who seek to replicate his style.
Most recently, Bukele's government has faced international criticism for the arrests of high-profile lawyers who have been outspoken critics of his administration. One of the country's most prominent human rights group announced in July it was moving its operations out of El Salvador for the safety of its people, accusing the government of a 'wave of repression.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
13 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
Don't Bomb Mexico, Mr. President
The State Department designated eight organized-crime syndicates based in Latin America as 'foreign terrorist organizations,' or FTOs, in February. In July it added a ninth. Last week the New York Times reported that President Trump has signed a secret 'directive' to the Pentagon to 'begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels.' The White House declined to tell me if the Times story is true. But on Thursday Reuters reported that the U.S. deployment of air and naval resources to the Caribbean to combat cartels had begun. Whether their mission is interdiction or something more invasive remains unclear.
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
What to Know About Bolivia's Presidential Election
Bolivia is holding a presidential election on Sunday that many analysts expect will end the 20-year dominance of the ruling socialist party, possibly returning the country to the right. The election comes amid an economic crisis, with many voters frustrated with the socialist project that once drew broad support. For two decades, Bolivian politics have been defined by the Movement for Socialism party, known by its Spanish acronym, MAS, led by Evo Morales, a former union leader. Mr. Morales was elected in 2005 as Bolivia's first Indigenous president in a nation long dominated by a wealthy, white elite. But this year, two right-wing politicians — a center-right businessman, Samuel Doria Medina, and a conservative former president, Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga — are leading the polls. In a crowded field of eight, neither is expected to win a majority of votes, most likely forcing a runoff in October. Here is what to know as Bolivians head to the polls. Why is this election important? This is the first time since 2002 that Mr. Morales or a Morales stand-in will not be on the ballot. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Mexico, Guatemala and Belize to create tri-national nature reserve to protect Mayan jungle
Mexico Maya Train GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The leaders of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize announced on Friday that they were creating a tri-national nature reserve to protect the Mayan rain forest following a meeting during which they also discussed expanding a Mexican train line criticized for slicing through jungle habitat. The nature reserve would stretch across jungled areas of southern Mexico and northern parts of the two Central American nations, encompassing more than 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares). Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called the move 'historic' and said it would create the second biggest nature reserve in Latin America, behind the Amazon rain forest. 'This is one of Earth's lungs, a living space for thousands of species with an invaluable cultural legacy that we should preserve with our eyes on the future,' Sheinbaum said, standing side-by-side with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and Belize Prime Minister Johnny Briceño. The announcement was met with cautious celebration by environmental groups like Mexico-based Selvame, who have sharply criticized the Mexican government and Sheinbaum's allies in recent years for environmental destruction wrought by megaprojects like a controversial train line, known as the Maya Train. The group said in statement that the reserve was a 'monumental step for conservation" but that it hoped that the reserve was more than just 'symbolic.' 'We're in a race against the clock. Real estate and construction companies are invading the jungle, polluting our ecosystems, and endangering both the water we consume, and the communities that depend on it,' the group wrote. It called on Sheinbaum's government to put an effective monitoring system in place to 'stop any destructive activities.' At the same time, the leaders also discussed a proposal by Mexico to expand the very train line those environmental groups have long fought from southern Mexico to Guatemala and Belize. The thousand-mile train currently runs in a rough loop around Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, and was created with the purpose of connecting Mexico's popular Caribbean resorts with remote jungle and Mayan archaeological sites in rural areas. However, it has fueled controversy and legal battles as it sliced through swathes of jungle and damaged a delicate cave system in Mexico that serves as the area's main source of water. In a span of four years, authorities cut down approximately 7 million trees, according to government figures. Sheinbaum's mentor and predecessor former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador fast-tracked the train project without detailed environmental studies. The populist repeatedly ignored orders from judges to stop construction due to environmental concerns and publicly attacked environmentalists warning about damage done to fragile ecosystems. López Obrador first proposed the idea of expanding the train to Guatemala, and Sheinbaum has continued to push for the project. On Friday, she said the extension would usher in development in rural areas with few economic opportunities. But Arévalo was already on record saying Guatemala's laws would not allow it to be built through protected jungle in the north of the country. The Guatemalan leader said on Friday he sees the economic potential of the project to the jungle region but remained adamant that the construction should not come with the kind of environmental damage that it inflicted in Mexico. 'Connecting the Maya Train with Guatemala and eventually with Belize is a vision we share,' Arévalo said. But 'I've made it very clear at all times that the Maya Train will not pass through any protected area.' He said there would also have to be careful environmental studies and the two presidents looked at an alternative proposal that would have the train loop instead of directly cut through the jungles of Guatemala and Belize. It remained unclear how the train's potential route would be affected by the new protected area. —— Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Solve the daily Crossword
