[ENGLISH] An open letter response from the Salvadoran diaspora to the Nayib Bukele Administration’s COVID19 Measures and First Year in Office

As members of the Salvadoran diaspora living in the United States, we write this open letter to declare our opposition to the rise of neofascism in El Salvador. The Bukele administration has manipulated the COVID-19 pandemic to justify increased militarization, enact right-wing economic measures and derail the advancements achieved since the 1992 Peace Accords. 

The Salvadoran diaspora is a result of a U.S. imperialist war of intervention that resulted in the death and disappearance of over 100,000 Salvadorans, and in the external displacement of one million Salvadorans between 1980 and 1992. U.S. foreign and economic policies continue to violently displace communities from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Yet, U.S. immigration policy systematically denies them legal rights and protections. The global pandemic has exposed and dangerously exacerbated these refugees’ precarious conditions and inequalities, leaving them without access to clean water, food, or basic healthcare. It is deeply alarming, then, to see the Bukele administration aligning with U.S. imperialism, militarizing its response to the pandemic and criminalizing precarious life conditions in El Salvador. As Bukele concludes his first year in office, we share the concern of our communities and unite to uplift the demands and denouncements of Salvadoran progressive social movement leaders, human rights activists, and citizens.

Since taking office, rather than center the needs of the country’s most oppressed communities, the Bukele administration has pandered to Trump and further subordinated El Salvador to Washington. Bukele signed on to the so-called “Safe Third Country Agreement” and established a U.S.-sponsored border patrol in El Salvador, aligning himself with Trump’s racist and xenophobic war on migrants while harming his own citizens. Throughout the pandemic, both Trump and Bukele have advanced their dangerous political and socioeconomic programs through expensive communication strategies, disseminating false information on social media and in contentious press conferences, refusing to answer questions about valid concerns regarding their extremist methods. Both heads of state have worked to consolidate the power of the executive branch since taking office. Bukele has carried out flagrant attacks against the Legislative Assembly and the Supreme Court in order to bypass democratic processes meant to ensure checks and balances on government spending. 

Despite his attempts to manipulate popular opinion and deceive Salvadorans, by the end of his first year in office it is clear that Bukele’s administration has harmed and abandoned the most vulnerable Salvadorans, especially during the pandemic. The administration has employed extreme measures, including unsafe “quarantine centers” to indiscriminately detain thousands of Salvadorans who lack basic necessities; using the military and police to patrol the streets; and encouraging the use of violent and lethal force against civilians. In addition to using the pandemic to justify a suspension of constitutional rights, Bukele has enacted absolute lockdowns in prisons. This decision reveals a complete disregard for the risk of contagion posed by such measures and, by extension, a disregard for human life. 

Bukele’s administration represents an authoritarian turn that won the support and admiration of Trump and the U.S. Embassy. After his election, Bukele gave his first speech in the United States at the Heritage Foundation, an ultra-conservative think tank that promotes neoliberal and violent anti-immigrant policies. Since then, he has committed to meeting backdoor promises to international, political, and financial elites. Bukele’s administration has slashed social spending while cutting taxes for national and transnational corporations, in turn imposing a greater burden on the poor. In a recently approved $389 million loan from the International Monetary Fund, Bukele agreed to significantly decrease public spending. This will lead to the privatization of public resources and services, higher taxes on essential goods and services, and reduced wages for public sector employees. This neoliberalism disguised as aid will bail out the private sector while crushing the working class with extensive debt for generations.

Although many Salvadorans still believe Bukele’s campaign promises to fight corruption and improve living standards, the reality is that his administration is characterized by political corruption, despotism, and nepotism. In addition to dissolving the Transparency Secretariat, he has refused to provide comprehensive public reports of government spending, particularly of emergency spending throughout the pandemic. We must end the illusion manufactured by Bukele before it is too late. His U.S. backed neoliberal political project is not the future! 

His patriarchal response to COVID-19 was unsurprising as he came to office promoting alarming increases to the military and security budget. As we know, and as Salvadoran feminist have aptly addressed, where militarism increases, so does violence against women and other marginalized groups. As the police’s deadly shooting of 22-year-old Zulma Yamileth Valencia Sisco on May 10, 2020 revealed, Bukele’s authorization of lethal force emboldens the police and military to act with impunity against anyone, especially the most disenfranchised and oppressed communities. 

Nayib Bukele’s first year in office is reminiscent of the most cruel aspects of the legacies of colonialism and imperialism. In our current struggle against police brutality, and in defense of Black and Indigenous and people of color in the U.S., we know that the struggle for human life and dignity remains ever-present in El Salvador, where our roots still run deep. As diasporic Salvadorans, it is our historic duty to accompany and uplift the growing movement against the rise of neofascism in the U.S. and El Salvador. Therefore, we demand:

1. A COVID-19 relief response that centers the needs of Salvadorans living in poverty, of farmers, women, youth, LGBTIQ+, and Afrodescendant and Indigenous peoples
2. Government acknowledgment of and response to the alarming rates of hate crimes, violence, and femicides against cis women, trans women and members of the LGBTIQ+ community, which have all been exacerbated during the COVID19 pandemic
3. The redirection of the record-breaking $22 million allocated for publicity into COVID-19 emergency response funding
4. Public access to comprehensive reports explaining the executive office’s allocations of state funds for the COVID-19 emergency response
5. An immediate halt to the neoliberal development model including international debt in service of the private sector and the privatization of water
6. Adherence to the 1992 Peace Accords that limit military and police power 
7. An immediate end to U.S. military and security aid to El Salvador, which functions to export the U.S. model of racist profit-driven policing and imprisonment
8. An immediate end to Bukele’s alignment with U.S. imperialism in Latin America, including his support for Trump’s attacks and sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela
9. An immediate end to the complicity with the Trump Administration’s attacks on migrants via the so-called “Safe Third Country Agreements” and wreckless deportations during a global pandemic

We call on the Salvadoran diaspora to organize a broad and dynamic movement to oppose the deepening of political, social, and economic inequality in El Salvador. We must challenge the global turn towards neofascism that Bukele has savvily resurrected in El Salvador.

[i] Diaspora: the movement or migration of a people away from their ancestral homeland.

[ii] Neofascism: a particular 21st Century response to the global capitalist crisis by reactionary and right-wing forces.

Sign-on Signatures

Signed by the following organizations, groups and collectives,

1. Al Otro Lado
2. Animales Interiores
3. Casa Rutilio Grande, Takoma Park Md
4. Central American Isthmus Graduate Association (CAIGA), UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
5. The CentAm Collective
6. Clínica Martín-Baró, SFSU-UCSF, San Francisco, CA
7. Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, CISPES
8. GuateMaya, Los Angeles, CA
9. Grupo Primero de Abril, Los Angeles, California
10. Homies Unidos Inc., Los Angeles, CA
11. La ColectiVa, Annandale, VA
12. La Horchata Zine
13. Human Rights Alliance for Child Refugees and Families, Los Angeles, CA
14. Salvadorans in California USA (SALCAUSA)
15. Salvadoran Leadership and Education Fund (SALEF), Los Angeles, CA
16. SalvisBeLike
17. Unión Centroamericana (UNICA de UCLA), Los Angeles, CA
18. Union del Barrio, San Diego, California
19. 1199 SEIU, New York, NY

Signed by the following individuals from the Salvadoran diaspora,

1. Leisy Abrego (Los Angeles, CA), Chicana/o and Central American Studies, UCLA
2. Sara Aguilar (Los Angeles, CA)
3. Elva  Aguilar  (El Sobrante, CA), Comté TPS por la Residencia Permanente
4. Daisy Alas (Vallejo, CA)
5. I Alberto (Austin, TX)
6. L Alfaro (Los Angeles, CA)
7. J Alfaro (Washington DC)
8. Stephanie Alfaro (Los Ángeles, CA)
9. Karina Alma (Whittier, CA) Chican/o and Central American Studies, UCLA
10. M Alvarado (Los Angeles, CA)
11. Joselin Alvarado (Los Angeles, CA), USEU Alumni, UCR, CSULB
12. Jennifer Alvarado (Los Ángeles, CA)
13. Amore Alvarenga (Los Angeles, CA)
14. D Alvarez (Los Angeles, CA)
15. Jeanette Alvarez (Nashville, TN)
16. Silvia Erica Arabia (San Francisco, CA) 
17. P Arauz (Juneau, AK)
18. M Ardon (Los Angeles, CA)
19. Marwin Arellano (Sunnyvale, CA) 
20. L Arellano-Karki (Vancouver, WA)
21. Araceli Argueta (Los Angeles, CA)
22. Jonathan Armstrong (Los Angeles, CA)
23. Kate Avery (Edinburg, TX)
24. Alissa Aviles (Chicago, IL)
25. V Ayala (Los Angeles, CA)
26. Eric Ayala (Los Angeles, CA)
27. Raúl Ayala Palencia (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Movimiento Centroamericano 2 de Marzo
28. Sabrinna B. (Northridge, CA)
29. Elizabeth Baires (Manassas, VA)
30. Jennifer Be (Arcata, CA), Casamiento Catering
31. M Beltran (Riverside, CA)
32. Joaquin Beltran (San Francisco, CA)
33. Joanna Beltrán Girón (Brooklyn, NY), Doctoral Student, Graduate Center of the City University of New York
34. J C (San Jose, CA)
35. Jackelin Cabrera (San Pablo, CA)
36. E Calderon (Camarillo, CA)
37. T Calderon (Los Angeles, CA)
38. Kryssia  Campos (Lansing, MI)
39. E Campos (San Francisco, CA)
40. Angelica Campos (Los Angeles, CA), Claremont McKenna College
41. Marcela Canales (Los Angeles, CA)
42. S Canales (Pasadena, CA), C.I.S.P.E.S.
43. J Canizares (Los Angeles, CA)
44. Jennifer Cárcamo (Lancaster, CA), UCLA PhD Student, Unión Centroamericana (UNICA), Central American Isthmus Graduate Association (CAIGA), Human Rights Alliance for Child Refugees and Families
45. Adonay Castillo (Los Angeles, CA)
46. Dana Castillo (Chicago, IL)
47. Karla Cativo (Los Angeles, CA)
48. Cecilia Cativo (Sylmar, CA)
49. Karla Cativo (Los Angeles, CA), Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund (SALEF)
50. D Cendejas (Annandale, VA)
51. Sherley Cordova (Washington D.C.)
52. Evert Cordova (Los Angeles, CA)
53. Ever Cordova (Los Angeles, CA)
54. Paty Coreas (Los Angeles, CA) 
55. Kency Cornejo (Albuquerque, NM), University of New Mexico
56. David Cruz (Fontana, CA)
57. Valeri Cruz Amaya (Atlanta, GA), Oglethorpe University
58. Mia Cucufate (Inglewood, CA)
59. J Cuéllar (Hanover, NH), Dartmouth College
60. G De La Cruz (Los Angeles, CA)
61. Noemi Delgado (San Diego, CA)
62. Ricardo Diaz (Los Angeles, CA), Al Otro Lado
63. Astrid Dueñas Díaz (Des Moines, WA)
64. L Echeverria (Los Angeles, CA)
65. N Escalante (Los Angeles, CA)
66. Evette Escobar (Chicago, IL)
67. Carolina Escobar (Atlanta, GA)
68. Nestor Espinoza (Lansing, MI), MSU
69. J Estrada (Seattle, WA)
70. E Fernandez (Los Angeles, CA)
71. Johanna Figueroa (Santa Ana, CA)
72. Diana Figueroa (Central Falls, RI)
73. E Flores (Los Angeles, CA), California State University, Northridge
74. Mario Franco (Takoma Park, MD)
75. Karen Franco (San Francisco, CA)
76. V Franco-Klothos (Melbourne, Australia)
77. Hector R Fuentes (Los Angeles, CA), USEU
78. K Galeas (Arlington, VA)
79. Gabriela Garay (Chicago, IL)
80. Marc Garcia (Pasadena, CA) 
81. J Garcia Rivera (Staten Island, NY)
82. Marissa Giron (Los Angeles, CA), UCSB
83. S Girón (Columbus, OH), Ohio State University
84. Ronald Gochez (Los Angeles, CA), Union del Barrio
85. G Gomez (Compton, CA)
86. Denise Gomez (Houston, TX)
87. Eden Gomez (San Leandro, CA)
88. Jessica Gomez (Los Angeles, CA)
89. Valerie Gómez (San Diego, CA), PhD Student, UC San Diego
90. A Gonzalez (San Francisco, CA)
91. S Gonzalez (Los Angeles, CA)
92. G Gonzalez (San Antonio, TX)
93. F Gonzalez (San Francisco, CA)
94. Cristina  Gonzalez (Los Angeles, CA), HRA, UCLA, UCSD
95. Maria  Gonzalez (Los Angeles, CA), Desplazada durante los 80s
96. Silvana Granados (Austin, TX)
97. Diana Guerra (Los Angeles, CA)
98. A Guerrero (Los Angeles, CA)
99. A Guevara (Novato, CA)
100. Julissa Gutierrez (Los Angeles, CA)
101. Stephanie Gutierrez Lynn MA
102. Ashley Xiomara Guzman (Pomona, CA), UCLA
103. K Henriquez (Brooklyn, NY)
104. Alicia Henriquez (Brooklyn, NY)
105. P Henriquez  (Fairfax, VA)
106. Mario Hercules (Los Angeles, CA), Grupo Primero de Abril
107. Lizette Hernandez (Los Angeles, CA), Human Rights Alliance
108. Giselle Hernandez (Los Angeles, CA)
109. C Hernández (Los Angeles, CA)
110. Daniela Hernandez (Castro Fontana, CA)
111. Leigh-Anna Hidalgo (Binghamton, NY), Assistant Professor at SUNY Binghamton University
112. Stephanie Huezo (Granby, MA), History Department, Fordham University
113. Victor Interiano (Pasadena, CA)
114. G Iraheta (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Movimiento Centroamericano 2 de Marzo
115. J Iraheta (Los Angeles, CA)
116. J Iraheta (Lincoln Heights, CA), Roots in Motion
117. Sofía Isabel Dominguez (Concord, CA)
118. Freddy Jesse Izaguirre (New York, NY)
119. Sergio Jimenez (Levittown, NY)
120. Jonathan Jimenez (San Francisco, CA)
121. Mayra Jones (San Diego, CA)
122. E Juarez (Brooklyn, NY)
123. Felix Kury (San Francisco, CA), Latin@s Studies Department, College of Ethnic Studies
124. C Landaverde (Washington DC)
125. Frida Larios (Washington DC), University of the District of Columbia
126. A Linares (Los Angeles, CA) CISPES
127. Janette Linares (San Francisco, CA)
128. Mellissa Linton-Villafranco (San Diego, CA), Arizona State University
129. Cassandra Lizardi (Dallas, TX)
130. I Lopez (Bronx, NY)
131. A Lopez (Torrance, CA)
132. E Lopez (San Jose, CA)
133. Jose Lopez (Inwood, NY), Yes
134. Dolores Lopez (Woodbridge, VA),  La ColectiVA
135. Rosa Lozano, (Washington DC)
136. María José Maldonado (New York, NY)
137. G Martinez (Canyon Country, CA)
138. Kevin Martinez (Sacramento, CA), A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition Sacramento
139. Oliver Martínez López (Boston, MA), Tufts University, International Relations Department
140. J Mata (New York, NY)
141. Guillermo Mayora (Uniondale, NY)
142. C Medina (San Jose, CA)
143. Wendy Medina (Hayward, CA)
144. Rene Melara (Los Angeles, CA)
145. Veronica Melendez (Washington DC)
146. Balmore Membreno Silva (Los Angeles, CA)
147. Jennifer Menendez (Los Angeles, CA)
148. Alexis Meza (San Diego, CA)
149. A Monge (Long Beach, CA)
150. Alexa-Sofia Montalvo (San Pablo, CA)
151. A Montalvo-Romero (San Francisco, CA)
152. Zoë Montano (Los Angeles, CA)
153. B Monterrosa (Los Angeles, CA)
154. Mario Montes (Jacksonville, FL)
155. Johana Moran (Los Angeles, CA)
156. N Moreno (Los Angeles, CA)
157. Jacqueline Munguía (Downey, CA)
158. B Nuñez (Millbrae, CA)
159. Karen Oliva (Los Angeles, CA), CISPES
160. C Olivo (Seattle, WA)
161. D Olivo (Los Angeles, CA)
162. Virginia Ordoñez (Van Nuys, CA)
163. Carla Orellana (Worcester, MA) 
164. Adelita Orellana (Alameda, CA)
165. Estela Orellana Gonzalez (Germantown, MD)
166. Tanya Orla (Fullerton, CA)
167. Dr. Steven Osuna (Los Angeles, CA), California State University, Long Beach
168. Allan Pacheco (Astoria, NY)
169. Elvira Padilla Funes (Los Angeles, CA), CISPES Los Angeles
170. Claudia Palacios (Baldwin Park, CA)
171. Alejandra Palma (North Hollywood, CA)
172. P Parada Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada)
173. F Peña (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
174. Jackeline Peraza (Los Angeles, CA)
175. Jonathan  Peraza Campos (Doraville, GA)
176. M Pereira (Hawaiian Gardens, CA)
177. Cristina Perez (Chico, CA)
178. Susana Perez (Los Angeles, CA)
179. S Pineda (Washington DC), Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
180. D Pineda (Los Angeles, CA)
181. Janel Pineda (Los Angeles, CA), CISPES
182. Dyan Pineda (Los Angeles, CA)
183. Cristina Pineda (Whittier, CA)
184. Yesenia Portillo (Washington DC), CISPES, DC Chapter
185. Claudia Quijano (Buena Park, CA)
186. Julio Quijano (Orange, CA)
187. Doris Quintanilla (Washington DC)
188. Herbert Quintanilla (Van Nuys, CA)
189. Iris Ramirez (Los Angeles, CA), UCLA
190. V Ramirez (Los Angeles, CA)
191. Cindy Ramirez (Chicago, IL)
192. Flo Ramirez (Hayward, CA)
193. Carmen Ramos (Los Angeles, CA)
194. L Realegeno Ramos (Oakland, CA)
195. Yessenia Reveles (Long Beach, CA)
196. Patricia Reyes de Mendoza (Dallas, TX)
197. Coralia Ring-Martinez (Sacramento, CA), Sacramento DSA
198. C Rivas (Los Angeles, CA)
199. S Rivas (Palmdale, CA)
200. Carlos Rivas (San Bernardino, CA), UCLA Department of Art History
201. Morelia Rivas (Oakland, CA)
202. Maria Rivera (Washington DC)
203. Aldair Rivera (Los Angeles, CA)
204. Isaura Rivera-Anagnos (Los Angeles, CA), Egresada de la UCLA
205. A Rodriguez (Fremont, CA)
206. Nalya A. Rodriguez (Irvine, CA), UC Irvine
207. Pau Rodriguez (Eugene, OR)
208. Miguel  Rodriguez (Austin, TX)
209. Alejandra  Rodríguez (Somerville, MA)
210. V Ronzon (Los Angeles, CA)
211. J Rumbaut (Washington DC)
212. Y Saenz (Los Angeles, CA)
213. Rosa Salamanca (Santa Rosa, CA)
214. Kelly Salinas (Downey, CA)
215. Alex Sanchez (Los Angeles, CA)
216. X Sanchez (Glendale, CA) CISPES
217. J Sanchez (Stockton, CA), UNICA de UCLA
218. Patricia Sánchez-Connally (Framingham, MA), Framingham State University
219. Roberto Saravia (Chatsworth, CA), CARECEN-LA
220. Ketzali Antu Saravia Weyapan (Chatsworth, CA)
221. Mayra Sibrian (Seattle, WA)
222. Lesly Tejada (Washington DC), Georgetown University
223. Emily Tejada (Los Angeles, CA)
224. Luz Tobar Temple (Hills, MD)
225. Jasmin  Tobar  Armijo (Los Angeles, CA)
226. Héctor Arturo Torres (Freeport, NY)
227. Alfredo Trejo III (Los Angeles, CA), University of California, Los Angeles
228. Evelyn Trujillo Gómez (Denver, CO)
229. Jazlyn Turcios (Pasadena, CA)
230. M Umana (Hempstead, NY)
231. Elizandro Umaña (Los Angeles, CA)
232. Ernesto Umaña (El Sobrante, CA)
233. Carina Umanzor (Dallas, TX)
234. I Umanzor  (Washington DC)
235. Roberto Valle (Los Angeles, CA)
236. J Varela (Richmond, CA)
237. S Vargas Gutierrez (Honokaa, HI)
238. J Vasquez (Brooklyn, NY)
239. Jennifer Villacorta (Worcester, MA)
240. Erik Villalobos (Locust Valley, NY)
241. Ivan Villanueva (Alhambra, CA)
242. Stefanie Williams (Berkeley, CA)
243. Carlos Zamora (Valencia, CA), Composer/Arranger
244. Ernie Zavaleta (Los Angeles, CA), USEU Alumni
245. Sara Zavaleta (Austin, TX)
246. Wendy Zepeda (Santa Rosa, CA)
247. Jennifer Zuniga (Los Angeles, CA)
248. Nancy Zuniga (Los Angeles, CA), Human Rights Alliance for Child Refugees and Families

To sign-on to the letter, please click here.