Latest news with #AnaFigueroa
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump ally Bukele secures path to indefinite reelections in El Salvador
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, an ally of President Trump, scored a Friday win after the country's lawmakers passed constitutional amendments eradicating term limits. The measure was passed in a 57-3 vote just one year after Bukele broke with the law setting term limits by saying he would seek a second term as president. The nation's Supreme Court ruled in 2021 it was his right to run again, foreshadowing the actions by lawmakers. 'This is quite simple, El Salvador: only you will have the power to decide how long you wish to support the work of any public official, including your president,' said elected official Ana Figueroa, who proposed the bill, according to Reuters. 'You have the power to decide how long you support your president and all elected officials,' she added. The bill backed by Bukele's New Ideas party also extends presidential terms from five years to six and omits the possibility of run-off elections. It also aligns presidential elections with congressional races, ensuring the two occur in the same year. Some decried the move, claiming it would compromise election integrity. 'Democracy in El Salvador has died,' opposing lawmaker Marcela Villatoro of the Nationalist Republican Alliance said, according to NPR. '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.' A human rights organization also shared its disapproval for the bill's passage. 'The day before vacation, without debate, without informing the public, in a single legislative vote, they changed the political system to allow the president to perpetuate himself in power indefinitely and we continue to follow the well-traveled path of autocrats,' said Noah Bullock, executive director of rights group Cristosal, according to Reuters. Bukele has overseen the Trump administration's deportation orders by containing immigrants sent from the U.S. in the region's notorious CECOT prison. Bukele backed Trump's previous decision to keep a wrongfully removed Maryland man behind bars overseas and mocked Democrats who attempted to have him freed, siding with the president's immigration enforcement policies. Now, he has a chance to remain in office indefinitely after the successful passage of five constitutional amendments, making Bukele an available key figure for the Trump administration's international plans. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump ally Bukele's party amends El Salvador constitution to allow indefinite presidential re-election
Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele's New Ideas Party has paved the way for him to potentially retain power in the Central American nation by overhauling the country's electoral system. The new bill extends presidential terms to six years and allows for indefinite presidential re-election. The country's presidential terms were initially five years long and immediate re-election was prohibited. However, in 2021, the country's Supreme Court — packed with justices picked by Bukele's party — ruled that the president could seek a second term, The Associated Press reported. Critics said Bukele's re-election in 2024 was unconstitutional. Members of New Ideas and their allies in the Legislative Assembly used their supermajority to pass changes to five articles of the country's constitution and passed the measure in a 57–3 vote on July 31. According to The Associated Press, New Ideas lawmaker Ana Figueroa's proposal also included a provision to eliminate the second round of elections in which the top two candidates go head-to-head. "This is quite simple, El Salvador: only you will have the power to decide how long you wish to support the work of any public official, including your president," Figueroa said, according to Reuters. "You have the power to decide how long you support your president and all elected officials." Meanwhile, other lawmakers expressed their frustration with the bill, with one lamenting the death of democracy. Nationalist Republican Alliance legislator Marcela Villatoro declared to 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," Villatoro said, according to The Associated Press. Bukele, who was first elected in 2019, has become somewhat of a polarizing figure as his crackdown on crime has made him popular with voters, while critics worry that he is trying to consolidate power. While Bukele's tough-on-crime policies have caused homicides to plummet, human rights groups say that innocent people were caught up in mass arrests. Human Rights Watch issued a report in July 2024 in which it found that approximately 3,000 children had become victims of the crackdown, which began in 2022. In the report summary, the group tells the story of a 17-year-old girl who was arrested without a warrant and eventually forced to plead guilty to collaborating with the notorious MS-13 gang, something she denied. Last year, Bukele told Time magazine that he would not seek a third term, though he could change his tune following the constitutional reforms.
CNN
01-08-2025
- Politics
- CNN
El Salvador approves indefinite presidential reelection and extends terms to 6 years
The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country's Legislative Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six 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.'
CNN
01-08-2025
- Politics
- CNN
El Salvador approves indefinite presidential reelection and extends terms to 6 years
The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country's Legislative Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six 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.'
CNN
01-08-2025
- Politics
- CNN
El Salvador approves indefinite presidential reelection and extends terms to 6 years
The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country's Legislative Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six 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.'
