The confiscation of the Legislative Assembly, the signs of corruption and the concentration of power determined the British magazine to downgrade the country’s rating.
The diagnosis of the intelligence unit of the British weekly The Economist for Democracy in El Salvador is deeply discouraging.
“No other Latin American country has resorted to authoritarianism in 2020 like El Salvador,” the magazine notes in its annual index of global democracy.
In fact, the El Salvador subsection of the report was entitled “Authoritarianism in El Salvador: A Dictator in the Process?”, And provides an account of the country’s path to democracy.
In its measurements, El Salvador ceased to be classified as a country with a flawed democracy and became one with a “hybrid regime.” This involves a mixture of democratic institutions with practices typical of authoritarianism.
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Under these regimes, there are often election irregularities, government pressure and harassment by opposition parties, widespread corruption and institutional weakness. Similarly, civil society is weakened, there is a systematic attack on the media and judicial independence is affected.
According to observers inside and outside the country, the government of El Salvador respects some of the characteristics of the hybrid regimes described by The Economist. These include the systematic attack on the independent press, the blows to the opposition and the hate speech that spills over into physical violence, the refusal to account and the use of security forces to protect officials or people close to the government.
In the weekly index, El Salvador is behaving well in terms of elections and political pluralism. However, political culture is one of the areas in which it is most shaken. It is followed by the functioning of the government, which feeds on the strong signs of corruption in the current administration. Political participation and civil liberties are also weak areas of the country.
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Under this category of hybrid regime, there is only authoritarianism, where the absence of political pluralism is consolidated. Many of these countries are dictatorships.
Of the 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, El Salvador is in 17th place and is surrounded by other countries with hybrid regimes such as Honduras, Bolivia, Haiti and Guatemala. Below them are only Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela as authoritarian states.
9F
The armed takeover of the Legislative Palace on February 9, 2020 is one of the main signs of democratic regression for the country in this global measurement of democracy.
That day, President Bukele commanded a military platoon in the Blue Chamber, where without invitation and by force he reached the chair of the legislative president and prayed, while military personnel approached the residences of opposition deputies to intimidate and pressure them to participate. at a meeting. unconstitutional convocation.
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Despite fears of a coup, the president left Congress and said God asked for his patience. However, he crossed a line that no one had even crossed in the armed conflict: the militarization of Congress.
This has brought great criticism and accusations to the president of endangering the constitutional order. For those who have seen signs of renewal in his term, the reality has prevailed: the president has a precarious democratic capacity. In this context and after his attitude of defying institutionality, in its May edition, The Economist dedicated an article calling Bukele “the first millennial dictator”.
Strengthening power
One of the main points where the British weekly sees a dangerous path to authoritarianism in El Salvador is the excessive concentration of power. In addition to closing spaces for the opposition and refusing to engage in dialogue with the Legislature to find, for example, measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nayib Bukele government has taken over the Institute for Access to Public Information and is trying to remain silent. opposition voices in an attempt to generate an “official voice”.
In the first months of the pandemic, the government tried to unilaterally issue executive decrees that violate fundamental guarantees, which cannot be limited without the assistance of the legislature. When the Constitutional Chamber made him see, the president openly defied these orders.
This is another point that The Economist considers a step towards authoritarianism by President Bukele: disobedience to court orders.
Finally, the magazine sees it as dangerous how corruption is gaining ground in El Salvador, especially in emergency procurement to participate in the pandemic. The aggravating factor, according to the weekly, is that this has not affected the popularity of President Bukele. If this continues, they warn that in elections, the ruling party could face even fewer controls.
“If the president follows this path, there is a real risk that permanent blows will be inflicted on Salvadoran democracy,” he concluded.