Latin American Weekly Report

06/02/2020 - Bukele orders military takeover of congress

The image of heavily armed soldiers stationed inside and outside El Salvador’s legislative assembly on 9 February had a chilling effect on democrats across the region and beyond. They were there on the express orders of President Nayib Bukele who, in front of a large crowd he had rallied on social media, strode into the building like a conquering general to look down on the vanquished. Bukele berated deputies for failing to approve a loan to finance his government’s security plan. He then walked out, but not before giving deputies a one-week ultimatum to approve the loan. Bukele has since sought to downplay the whole incident but beneath the bravado in his tweets there is a sense that he miscalculated the reaction. Still, unchastened by a rebuke from the constitutional chamber of the supreme court, he will not back down in his dispute with deputies despite the damage to the country’s democratic institutions.

Download the full briefing to read on...

Access to the full Latin American Weekly Report is one of the benefits of a Canning House Corporate Membership.


Canning House Individual Members receive LatinWeek with their weekly newsletter.

Learn more and become a member today.

More recent briefings & intelligence

Becoming a member at Canning House

By joining Canning House, you will become part of the UK's leading forum for informed comment, contacts and debate on Latin American politics, economics and business.

Just £50 per year.

Join now

Learn more

Sign up to our newsletter

All of Canning House's activities, including our upcoming events, insightful publications, latest news, and featured events from the UK-Latin America community.

In your inbox, every week, for free.

Required
Required
Required