Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ordered Venezuela's
diplomatic corps to leave the country in 48 hours on the night of Saturday,
November 2, by not recognizing the government of Nicolás Maduro and giving his
support to the head of parliament Juan Guaidó.
"The
government of El Salvador expels the diplomatic corps from the regime of
Nicolás Maduro, being consistent with the repeated statements of President
Nayib Bukele, in which it does not recognize the legitimacy of the Maduro government",
the Presidency of the Republic said in a statement.
Also, "give 48 hours" to the entire diplomatic
corps"of the Maduro regime to leave the national territory", added
the statement, which was placed by Bukele on his Twitter account.
Since before taking over the government last June, Bukele
had said he would maintain a "distant" relationship with Maduro's
government and a very close relationship with the United States, which has
demanded Maduro's exit from power.
Indeed, the U.S. ambassador to San Salvador, Ronald
Johnson, reacted with satisfaction to the government's decision.
"We
applaud the government of President Nayib Bukele for ensuring that El Salvador
is on the right side of history by recognizing Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's
interim president", he said on his Twitter account.
The Bukele government recalled that it has supported
resolutions within the Organization of American States (OAS) supporting UN
reports that have denounced serious human rights violations in Venezuela.
"The
government of President Nayib Bukele recognizes the legitimacy of the president
in charge, Juan Guaidó, while free elections are held", the presidential
statement said.
Guaidó
is recognized as interim president of Venezuela by half a hundred countries. "In
favor of Democracy".
"The
Savior will always be in favor of democracy and defends human rights;
therefore, it will support free votes, supervised by the international
community and guaranteeing the will of the sister people of Venezuela", the Presidency's statement added.
A report by the high commissioner for human rights,
Chilean Michelle Bachelet, said last July that the Venezuelan government
reported 5,287 deaths from "resistance to authority" in 2018 and
another 1,569 between January 1 and May 19, 2019. Many of these cases,
according to Bachelet, may constitute extrajudicial executions.
Johnson
also noted that "the Venezuelan people have the right to elect a president
and a government that works for the well-being of their people, rather than
serving personal interests".
Since Bukele came to power, relations between San
Salvador and Washington have increased after signing an asylum agreement, as
did Guatemala and Honduras.
Last week, Washington also announced an extension to
allow some 250,000 Salvadorans to reside and work legally in the country.
Bukele has been heavily criticized for his stance against
Venezuela by the party of the former leftist guerrilla farabundo Martà Front
for National Liberation (Fmln), who while governing between 2009 and 2019
maintained a very close relationship with Maduro, in particular the former
President Salvador Sánchez Cerén (2014-2019).
Indeed, Sánchez Cerén's government showed an unsatisfactory
and timely distant relationship with the United States, despite the fact that
there are some 2.5 million Salvadorans who are an important pillar for the
economy by sending family remittances.
For the time being, the Fmln or any other sector of Salvadoran
politics reacted to Bukele's decision to expel the diplomatic corps from
Venezuela.
The Salvadoran president also maintains a distance with
Nicaragua, an ally of Venezuela and whose government granted first asylum and
more recently nationality to former President Mauricio Funes (2009-2014), who
is required by the appointed Salvadoran justice of acts of corruption.
SOURCE: Panorama
