El Salvador: Naguib Boukili asks the United States not to allocate cooperation to opponents | The most important news and analysis in Latin America | DW

El Salvador’s President, Najib Bukele, asked the United States on Tuesday (05/25/2021) not to finance opposition parties with economic cooperation funds that were previously intended to support some state institutions.

“Wherever they (USAID, USAID) want to give up their money, well they can, as long as it does not finance the political movements of the opposition, because this is illegal (…) personally, I think,” the president said at a press conference. It would be good for them to invest in real organizations, not in opposition organizations. “

Buckley confirmed that they did not intend to ask the United States to return the money that was withdrawn. “We will not seek to redirect [de los fondos]The president’s response came after a deputy associated with his government announced a possible trip to Washington for Chancellor Alexandra Hill to call for assistance.

“We will not seek to change it or anything, because we are not looking for gifts. We seek to do business in the world and for our country to open up to the world, commercially, tourism and politically, and not just live as a gift. This is really something we must leave behind in our minds,” he said. Buckley.

The president stressed that “all support from the United States, or from any other country, is welcome,” but “we must now start looking towards self-sufficiency, not a country that lives as a gift.”

The United States distanced itself from Buckley after the newly established Legislative Assembly, controlled by the ruling party, fired a group of judges and the attorney general on May 1, causing international condemnation and sectors of the opposition, which denounced outrage. Of powers. “We have already said very clearly that the changes on May 1 are irreversible, and we have already turned the page (…) we are not coming back until we discuss that in our meetings,” Buckili confirmed on Tuesday.

2.5 of the 3 million Salvadorans living abroad live in the United States and their remittances account for 22% of the Central American country’s GDP.

But (afp, efe)