WASHINGTON.- This Monday, the US Government congratulated the president of The Savior, Nayib Bukelefor his “electoral victory”, with a message in which he stressed the need to continue working to respect human rights and judicial guarantees.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinkenadvocated continuing to “prioritize” good governance, “inclusive” economic prosperity, guarantees for “fair trials” and human rights in political relations with The Saviora country that Washington considers key in the region.
Joe Biden’s Administration hopes to continue working with Bukele once he takes office for his second term. According to Blinken, there is a “strong relationship” with the Salvadoran people and the events in the Central American country have a “direct impact” for the United States.
“Only by working together can we reach our full potential and overcome the main obstacles in our hemisphere and globally,” said the head of US diplomacy in a statement, waiting for the counting of ballots to be completed in The Savior.
According to official data, Bukele obtained 83% of the votes, well ahead of the 7% of its closest competitor, the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). A jubilant Bukele declared a historic margin of victory even before electoral authorities published the first preliminary figures that same Sunday night.
However, the Salvadoran electoral authority highlighted that there were “multiple actions that have hindered the development of the activities for transmitting preliminary results,” as well as the lack of paper to print the voting records at the polling stations. He called for a change to a contingency process that included counting votes by hand.
Eduardo Escobar, a lawyer for the nongovernmental organization Acción Ciudadana, said there appeared to be two problems: Some election workers were unable to enter vote totals into the system and others were unable to transmit them. However, he indicated that “I understand that the matter is already flowing.”
Example to the world
On Sunday night, from the balcony of the National Palace, Bukele said that the country had made history.
“Why are so many eyes of the world on a smaller country in America?… They are afraid of the power of example,” he said.
“We Salvadorans have given an example to the entire world, that any problem can be solved if there is the will to do so,” he added.
The self-described “world’s coolest dictator” had sky-high approval ratings and virtually no competition. This despite concerns that his administration has undermined checks and balances in his first term and accusations that he circumvented a constitutional ban on re-election.
Bukele made it clear that he hopes the newly elected Legislative Assembly will continue to expand the special powers it has enjoyed since March 2022 to combat the country’s feared gangs.
Under the state of emergency approved in March 2022, the government has arrested more than 76,000 people, more than 1% of the Central American country’s population. It has sparked accusations of widespread human rights abuses and a lack of due process, but violence has plummeted in a country that was once one of the most dangerous in the world.
Source: With information from Europa Press
