The president of the republic, Nayib Bukele, reminded the international community that El Salvador is a “free, sovereign, and independent” country and that it is building its “own destiny” without interventionism and foreign interference.

Said statements were made last night in the Legislative Assembly, as part of the act in which he reported on the work done during his three years in office following his democratic defeat of the FMLN in the 2019 presidential elections.

“We want to have good relations with other countries; we want to be allies, friends, partners, but not a colony or a backyard or a front yard. Our doors are wide open; we just won’t allow them to tell us what to do,” said the president.

His words were strongly applauded by the deputies of the New Ideas parliamentary group, GANA, PCN, and PDC, and by the public in the Blue Room. The president stated that internal and external enemies will be unable to undermine the transformations that the central government is achieving three years after the country’s factual powers were democratically defeated.

Bukele described as positive the dismissal of the former Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ). The magistrates of this were dismissed on May 1, 2021 by the new Legislative Assembly —with a majority of Nuevas Ideas— in the first plenary session.

Despite the fact that the Constitution of the Republic guarantees that the deputies remove second-tier officials from their positions, the United States embassy in El Salvador asked to reinstate the constitutional magistrates and the attorney general of the republic. They had been elected by the previous legislature, dominated by ARENA and the FMLN.

“What would have happened if we had left the previous prosecutor as the international community wanted? We definitely would not have achieved what has been done so far,” Bukele reflected.

The president also reaffirmed that the international community must be clear that El Salvador is not a “colony” and regretted that it does not recognize the advances in security that have been achieved through the Territorial Control Plan (PCT) and the emergency regime. 

Since March 27, when the state of emergency began, the authorities have captured more than 36,000 gang members. “Our doors are wide open, but we will not allow them to tell us what to do. Whatever they say, whatever they do, attack whatever they attack, I tell them: they’re not going to stop us,” he said.

Likewise, he criticized the political opposition parties, ARENA and FMLN, because, like the international community, they do not recognize the efforts of the Executive in security matters.

In his act of accountability to the Salvadoran population, the Salvadoran president invited the international community to work hand in hand, but not to hinder the progress of the country.