Naib Bhukle promises not to harass critical voices and journalists, say civil society

Several civil society organizations met with Salvadoran President Naib Bukele at the Presidential Palace this afternoon, characterized by its contradictory dialogue with all such organizations since the beginning of the current government. Their regime.

After a four-and-a-half hour meeting, representatives of the organizations concerned gave a press conference in which they gave general details of what they had discussed with the President, in which they emphasized the “commitment” made by the President. “Do not harass critical voices or journalists,” he said, questioning the government’s actions, confirmed by DDJ Foundation representative Jose Marinero, who said the meeting was promoted by the US embassy in the country.

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However, Jessica Estrada, director of Fontaine’s transparency section, said there were a number of issues that President Buhel did not emphasize, for example, the removal of CICIES and the erosion of transparency by the current government. Wilson Sandoval, an expert on corruption issues at ALAC-Fund, said: “There is no answer to specific cases (…) the list issue has not been resolved.”

Similarly, Estrada confirmed that the meeting was “early agreements, not conclusions” for which there may be more such meetings after the August holidays, including other civil society organizations.

In this sense, representatives of various organizations stressed that there are expectations that the President will agree with what was discussed during the meeting, because Marinero pointed out that attending the meeting was not “naive”. The present government has been committing various acts of humiliation and attack on the press and civil society.

In this regard, Christosall’s director Nova Bullock added that Buckell himself accepted the responsibility of dealing with the areas in question and the influence that these talks have on the public. Create situations hostile to journalists and other voices. “The president agreed to reduce those speeches,” Bullock said.

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For this reason, Claudia Umana, the leader of the Fousset, emphasized the importance of this first approach, because in her own words, “something is the beginning” in the sense that many voices and different thoughts began to recognize that “in El Salvador”. “

Prior to the meeting, some of the participating organizations issued a letter to the President expressing “deep concern” over the decisions taken by the government in various respects, undermining the separation of powers and the state. Of the law.

In this sense, in particular, the organizations expressed their concern about the May 1 constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court and the “removal” of the Attorney General’s office.

Some of the participating organizations are Democracy – Transparency – Justice Foundation (DDJ), Cristosal, Legal Enforcement Foundation (Phosphate), National Development Trust (Finance) Anti-Corruption Legal Advisory Center (ALAC), Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FuCates), and Funda, UCA, Francisco Cavidia University and others like Ormosa.