Until a day ago, Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara was an unknown name in El Salvador. At least, in the political and public sphere. But for President Nayib Bukele she was—and is—a very close person. So much so that he delegated to her, with the approval of Congress, the helm of the country while he takes a six-month leave of absence to seek re-election.
The new interim president, who will be in charge of El Salvador until May 31, was until Thursday the private secretary of the Presidency.
Rodríguez de Guevara, who has a degree in Business Administration, has worked almost her entire life near Bukele and was proposed on Thursday by the president to become his replacement.
She has known the now presidential candidate since she initially worked for a Bukele family advertising company and has been at his side since he entered politics to win the mayoralty of the small municipality of Nuevo Cuscatlán in 2012, where she served as financial manager.
She has not yet come out to give statements as interim president or indicate what her management lines will be.
But opposition deputies voted against his appointment and questioned whether he was a person from Bukele’s trusted circle.
“We know that the figure of the presidential appointee is going to be used to perform the functions when the president is up for re-election, which is illegal, that is why we decided not to support, regardless of who the person is,” said representative Dina Argueta of the former guerrilla. Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).
Congress approved by a majority Bukele’s proposal for Rodríguez de Guevara to become the first woman in the country’s history to serve as interim president of El Salvador from December 1 to May 31, 2024, when the term ends. current presidential term.
In parallel and despite the fact that the Salvadoran Constitution prohibits it, Bukele obtained a six-month license from Congress to formally leave office and dedicate himself to the electoral campaign for presidential re-election in the elections on Sunday, February 4, 2024.
The vice president, Felix Ulloa, presented a similar request and also received the approval of Congress as Bukele’s running mate in the same vote.
Opposition deputies voted against granting a license to Bukele, considering that it violates the Constitution, because they affirm that re-election is not allowed.
“You cannot give a license for something that is illegal, you cannot give a license to violate the Constitution. We cannot expect that independence from you,” said representative Claudia Ortiz, of the VAMOS party.
Regarding the new interim president, deputy César Reyes, from the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) questioned: “She is apparently from President Bukele’s inner circle, it is a profile that was not well known to everyone and they put her in charge of taking care of the throne”.
The presidential appointee held the Private Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic since March 18, 2022 and was previously the institutional financial manager of the Presidential House, an entity that depends on the Private Secretariat.
Among his positions of trust in the Bukele administration, Rodríguez de Guevara also serves as president of the board of directors of the National Directorate of Municipal Works (DOM), an institution of which he is the legal representative. She is also secretary of the Council of Ministers.
In 2015 Bukele became the mayor of the Salvadoran capital and Rodríguez de Guevara also accompanied him as municipal treasurer until 2018, when the president decided to compete for the presidency of the Republic in the 2019 elections. He won by delivering a resounding defeat to the majority parties Arena and FMLN, which governed the country for 30 years.
The appointment of Rodríguez de Guevara did not cease to surprise opposition politicians, as well as analysts who presume that he will continue Bukele’s work.
“We were clear that it was going to be someone from his very close circle, someone he trusted; I understand that he has been working from the mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán and that she is currently very close to him. In fact, the position of private secretary is a position of extreme confidence,” said lawyer Tahnya Pastor.
And he added: “We do not expect a second Bukele because it is very difficult; the only expectation that there is for her is that she gives continuity to the president’s work. She has been an important part, a cornerstone, in all this operation, while she returns it to the president who we presume will be re-elected”.
