Thousands of people demonstrated in El Salvador’s capital on Sunday against corruption and what they see as a move toward a dictatorship, only days after the US slapped penalties against President Nayib Bukele’s close adviser.
Bukele has been under fire for making bitcoin legal tender in the country, implying that the volatile cryptocurrency will aid the country’s ailing economy, as well as for legal amendments that some claim are an attack on the judiciary’s independence.
“As a country, we’ve had enough of public officials abusing public resources that belong to the people,” lawyer Eduardo Alvarenga, 37, told AFP during the protest, holding a poster calling for an end to corruption.
After Congress, which is dominated by the ruling party, dismissed all judges of the Supreme Court’s constitutional chamber and judges over the age of 60, current and former judges joined the protest, calling for respect for the separation of powers.
Despite a constitutional one-term limit, the new Bukele-aligned court then let him to compete for re-election in 2024.
