El Salvador President Nayib Bukele mocks the Biden administration while praising former President Donald Trump for helping his country fight crime.
Bukele, whose country is known for adopting Bitcoin as a national currency, went on the offensive when U.S. government official Ned Price criticized his country on Twitter.
The U.S. government continues to support El Salvador in its efforts to reduce the proliferation of gangs. We urge El Salvador to protect its citizens while also upholding civil liberties, including freedom of the press. https://t.co/0zryWuWdrk
— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) April 10, 2022
“The U.S. government continues to support El Salvador in its efforts to reduce the proliferation of gangs. We urge El Salvador to protect its citizens while also upholding civil liberties, including freedom of the press,” Price tweeted.
Attached in the tweet is a statement from State Secretary Antony J. Blinken, saying that the U.S. is concerned about the ongoing violence in El Salvador and condemned its government for allegedly censoring critics.
“The United States government is concerned about violence in El Salvador and the passage and implementation of the April 5 Criminal Code amendment by the Legislative Assembly criminalizing reporting on certain gang activities,” the statement read. “Journalists must have the freedom to do their jobs without fear of violence, threats, or unjust detention.”
The statement went on to urge Bukele to deal with the local gangs, as Blinken claimed that they “pose a threat to the national security of El Salvador and the United States,” while also respecting “civil liberties, including freedom of the press, due process, and freedom of speech.”
Bukele gave his blunt response on Twitter and ridiculed the current administration for its hypocrisy.
“Yes, we got support from the U.S. government to fight crime, but [this] was UNDER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION,” Bukele clapped back. “You are only supporting the gangs and their ‘civil liberties’ now.”
The Salvadoran president is one of the few leaders in the region to deal with the gang problem, launching a “totalitarian crackdown” on gangs which has led to the arrest of thousands of gang members.
“We have arrested 3,700 gang members,” Bukele tweeted last month. “None of them will ever get out.”
As expected, liberals cried foul over Bukele’s rightful initiative, claiming that his crackdown on the gangs that were terrorizing El Salvadoreans is a “human rights abuse,” even though it has made the country much safer.
