U.S. envoy discusses removal of judges with Salvadoran Parliament

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This Tuesday, May 11, the special envoy of the United States Government for the Northern Triangle of Central America, Ricardo Zúñiga, discussed with the Board of Directors of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, the dismissal of Supreme Court magistrates and the Attorney General.

Zúñiga arrived on Monday to the Central American country, without his agenda being known.

“They came to us to express some situations that they consider worrying, we are talking about what has happened at international level, the criticisms that have been made”, said to journalists deputy Numan Salgado, of the ruling Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA).

Read also: Dismissals in El Salvador raise alarm in international community

The international community has been concerned and has criticized the dismissal of the magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and the Attorney General Raúl Melara on May 1.

Different organizations, such as the European Union and the United Nations, have pointed out that these dismissals without due process violate the separation of powers and judicial independence.

The legislator said that the members of the Board of Directors, formed only by deputies of the ruling party, told him “which are the faculties we have as Legislative Assembly”. “I would believe that the panorama was clarified a little”, said Salgado, according to statements published by local media.

Read also: El Salvador enters a political crisis under criticism from the U.S. of court ousters

The meeting between Zúñiga and the legislators, which was in private, was initially known through opposition deputies and images of the Salvadoran media captured when they left.

This meeting forced to delay for almost an hour the beginning of the third plenary session of the 2021-2024 legislature, in which the approval of some 750 million dollars in credits is expected.

In a brief statement released Monday, the U.S. State Department stressed that Zúñiga will meet during his visit with members of the Salvadoran Executive branch, as well as with representatives of the private sector to discuss “areas of mutual interest,” such as “strengthening democratic governance and respect for human rights.”

El Salvador has been in the midst of a political crisis since the ruling party took the reins of Parliament for a new term earlier this month and, as a first action, voted to dismiss the magistrates with whom the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, had clashes during the last year, which has been criticized as a blow to the system of separation of powers.

After the impeachment was announced, the Constitutional Chamber issued a ruling declaring the vote against him unconstitutional, an action that several lawyers believe nullifies the congressional vote.

The United States is the country that has most criticized the dismissals and its diplomatic mission in El Salvador did not attend the call to a meeting of Bukele with ambassadors to justify the dismissals and in which he told the representatives that “they are misinforming their countries”.