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1 1 (December 3, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govegci0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ aResearch Service El Salvador: Authoritarian Actions and U.S. Response Updated December 3, 2021 On November 22, 2021, then-U.S. Charg6 d'Affaires Jean Manes announced a pause in efforts to repair U.S.-Salvadoran relations, due to the Salvadoran government's lack of interest. Manes then left her post, after months of trying to encourage President Nayib Bukele to address U.S. and international concerns about democratic backsliding. Such concerns have increased since May 2021, as Bukele and his legislative allies have exerted influence over the country's supreme court and office of the attorney general, interfered in anti-corruption efforts, and attacked civil society and the press. The rapid erosion of El Salvador's democratic institutions has raised concerns among some Members of Congress, and it may influence congressional decisions regarding the amount and types of U.S. foreign assistance provided to the country. Democratic Backsliding On June 1, 2019, Bukele, a businessperson and former mayor of San Salvador, took office for a five-year presidential term after winning a first-round victory as an outsider standing for the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) party. His New Ideas party was not yet eligible to field candidates. Born in 1981, Bukele is the first president to come of age politically after the 1980-1992 civil conflict and the first presidential candidate in 30 years to win without support from the conservative National Republican Alliance (ARENA) party or the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) party. Bukele has governed as a populist, using social media to communicate with supporters, announce policies, purge officials, and attack opponents. Through 2020, Bukele battled with the legislature and the supreme court over funds for his security plan and his aggressive enforcement of a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic quarantine. In February 2020, Bukele ordered the military to surround the unicameral National Assembly in an effort to intimidate legislators into approving an anti-crime bill. He ignored supreme court rulings to respect constitutional rights and legislative decisions during the pandemic. Although Bukele remained popular, critics warned about his authoritarian tendencies and possible ties to organized crime. In February 2021, New Ideas and its allies won a supermajority (56 of 84 seats) in parliamentary elections. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11658 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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