President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced today he does not recognize the government of Nicolás Maduro and ordered the 48-hour exit of Venezuelan diplomats accredited in this country.
In a note sent from the Presidential House, headquarters of the Salvadoran Executive, the Bukele administration formalized its recognition of Venezuelan opposition deputy Juan Guaidó as self-proclaimed president in charge of Venezuela.
Diplomatic sources consulted by Prensa Latina confirmed the news, expected after the distancing of the Bukele administration from the democratically elected government of Maduro and its approach to the United States.
In fact, US ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, immediately greeted Bukele’s decision recognizing Guaidó.
President Nayib Bukele’s decision was criticized here by several left-wing Salvadoran deputies.
Nidia Díaz, leader of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) parliamentary group, assured Prensa Latina that Bukele confirmed with this ‘fascist measure’ his total servitude to the United States government.
‘We totally condemn this measure, which violates international law and the sovereignty and self-determination of Venezuela, whose people decided their own destiny,’ said Diaz, signer of the 1992 Peace Accords.
Eugenio Chicas, a member of the Central American Parliament, reiterated that the United Nations ratified the legitimacy of the Maduro government, and regretted the ‘genuflection’ of the Salvadoran government to the interests of Washington.
‘The expulsion of diplomats goes against the principles of sovereignty of the people: it is a serious mistake to submit to impositions that denote servility to the interests of others,’ said deputy Daniel Reyes (FMLN).
Parliamentarian Anabel Belloso condemned Bukele’s decision for ignoring a democratically elected government with broad popular support, aligning with a minority standing by Guaidó.
In fact, the US ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, immediately greeted Bukele’s decision by recognizing Guaidó from his social networks.
On the other hand, former Salvadorian President Mauricio Funes said today that the United States conditioned a recent extension of migratory protection to the rupture of relations with the Venezuelan government.
‘And of course, it was expected that behind this sudden decision by Nayib (Bukele) was the US Embassy,’ Funes tweeted.
‘It is the condition that the US government put on Nayib so that his ambassador would lend himself to the farce that both mounted with the TPS (temporary protection status),’ said Funes. Earlier this week, Bukele and the US ambassador to this country, Ronald Johnson, announced a supposed extension of the TPS for Salvadorans in the northern nation, although in reality their deportation was postponed one year.
The agreement came after the signing of an agreement for El Salvador to accept asylum seekers prosecuted by Washington, and in the midst of a growing rapprochement between the two governments. (https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=48580&SEO=government-of-el-salvador-expels-diplomats-of-venezuela)
