march on anniversary of peace agreements and against Bukele

Hundreds of opponents of the government of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele marched in the capital on Sunday to commemorate another anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords that put an end to 12 years of civil war and denounce what they consider a democratic setback in the country.

The demonstrators walked the main avenues and concentrated in the historic center of San Salvador. Sonia Urrutia, one of the leaders of the leftist Bloque de Resistencia y Rebeldía Popular, told reporters that they were demonstrating on the 31st anniversary of the agreements, but also to denounce the “repression” in the Bukele government.

He explained that the government tried to prevent the march by placing police and soldiers checkpoints at the entrances to the capital, where according to reports people who were transported in the collective buses were searched to verify that they were not carrying weapons.

Ronal Amaña, a veteran politician who now seeks to lead a broad opposition bloc to compete in the 2024 presidential elections, said they were receiving the support of the people, despite “the maneuvers that this man (Bukele) is using, the terrorism , to keep the people in fear.”

The presence of police and soldiers in the vicinity of the march was not observed, although small incidents were reported with exchange of insults between some demonstrators and civilians in the area that did not go further.

Several union and civil society organizations participated in the march, including relatives of those detained during the emergency regime who demanded the release of the more than 61,000 captured for allegedly being gang members or collaborators.

March organizers hoped to gather more than 200,000 people, but the response was minimal.

At Bukele’s request, the Salvadoran Congress recently approved the tenth extension of the state of emergency to continue fighting the maras or gangs, which the authorities hold responsible for most of the crimes committed in the country.

The government warned that it will continue with the measure until the last of the gang members are removed from the streets.

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