U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday rejected the actions of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele who dismissed his country's Attorney General and Supreme Court judges.
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"Washington is concerned about El Salvador's democracy. An independent judiciary is vital to a healthy democracy and a strong economy," Harris tweeted.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also reacted to Bukele's decision to remove Salvadoran Attorney General Raul Melara.
"We urge President Bukele not to interrupt El Salvador's democratic path, respect the separation of powers, defend the press, and support the private sector," he alerted.
On Saturday, legislators of the New Ideas ruling party took control of Parliament for the 2021-2024 term. In their first action, they dismissed those magistrates with whom Bukele had clashes over the last year.
"We are facing a new coup d'état, endorsed by President Bukele and executed by lawmakers from those parties aligned with his administration," twenty-five social organizations condemned in a joint statement.
"This is not how things are done in a democratic state," U.S. President Joe Biden's advisor on Latin America affairs Juan Gonzalez said, adding that the ousted officers were effective partners in fighting crime in the U.S. and El Salvador.