El Salvador: thousands marching against Bukele

Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Sunday in El Salvador's capital, San Salvador, to demonstrate against the government of President Nayib Bukele.

While Bukele was at the center of the protests, grievances from those who had gathered ranged from his effort to supplant the Supreme Court justices with judges more to his liking and the move to make bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador.

Feminist groups, human rights organizations, environmentalists and opposition political parties were among those who gathered in the capital carrying signs saying "Bitcoin is fraud" and "Democracy is non-negotiable, it is defended", along with numerous anti-authoritarian messages. .

They also burned an effigy of Bukele near the main square in San Salvador.

El Salvador has used the US dollar as its legal currency for two decades. However, it recently became the first country in the world to make bitcoin a national currency.

Bukele's government said bitcoin could help revitalize El Salvador's struggling economy. Also, it could help the country withhold fees that are lost when remittances are sent to the country.

Remittances from Salvadorans abroad represent over $ 400 million (€ 345 million) or 22% of El Salvador's GDP.

Emperor Bukele's concentration of power criticized

Last month, amid growing concerns about Bukele's efforts to consolidate power, he proclaimed himself "emperor" in his Twitter bio. On the social media site, he criticized Sunday's protests as a failure.

For the first time, Congress is dominated by lawmakers from Bukele's New Ideas party. In May, they voted in favor of the dismissal of judges from the Constitutional College of the Supreme Court and the Attorney General. Their substitutes were perceived as being friendly to Bukele.

The Supreme Court then ruled that Bukele could ask for a second Conservative term. The maneuvers have led to strong criticism from the United States and other international rights groups.

What do the protesters say about Bukele?

Ricardo Navarro, head of the environmental NGO Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology, told AFP news agency that Bukele "is already plunging us with his bad ideas that are already affecting the economy with this bitcoin."

Rosa Granados, a member of the union, told Reuters news agency: "If he raises his hand, all the deputies approve it and there is no law and no legal process to be respected."

Would you also have taken to the streets against the president, or would you have had a different opinion on him? It is true that the oppositions are made to "oppose" the government, but all this fury, rather than an open dialogue, does not only harm democracy? Finally, if invest in Bitcoin it will have been a failure for the South American country, this can only be told by time.