Salvadorans To March Against Bukele's Three Years in Power

The Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc (BRP) called on citizens to join a large march in San Salvador city on Wednesday to reject the abuses committed by President Nayib Bukele during his first three years in office.

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The march will leave from the "Divine Savior of the World" square towards the government headquarters, the BRP said and invited Salvadorans to protest against the dismantling of democracy, the destruction of human rights, and the loss of transparency in governance.

"The government has been authoritarian and violated human rights. All its speeches have been based on lies and unfulfilled promises," BRP leader Marisela Ramirez stressed and accused the Bukele administration of widespread insecurity, the deterioration of foreign policy, and the enactment of the Bitcoin Law.

As a result of a budget record against the subnational governments' Fund for Economic and Social Development (FODES), the Salvadoran presidency has managed to increase its control of public resources but has not improved the construction of roads, the provision of drinking water, the repair of parks, garbage collection, or the granting of scholarships to students.

Social activists also denounce that the Bukele administration has dismantled programs that supported vulnerable social groups, such as Woman's City, family farming, and Rural Dawn.

"Now the entire budget is directed to the Armed Forces and not to the training of the police in respect for human rights," BRP member Samuel Ramirez denounced and stressed that current repressive actions endanger the peace agreements in force for decades.

Added to the foregoing is the lack of transparency with which the "Exception Regime" is being managed, since citizens are unaware of the real situation of people imprisoned for allegedly belonging to urban criminal gangs.

“We don't know if everyone is guilty. What we do know is that authorities are releasing prisoners at midnight. We don't know why they do it but we assume it is the result of a pact with the gangs."