San Salvador, June 3 (EFE). The Board of Directors of El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly, chaired by President Ernesto Castro, and the new US business director in this country, Jean Manes, held a meeting on Thursday that addressed “general” issues.
When asked by reporters what issues were discussed at the meeting, which took place at the conference headquarters, Castro replied, “It’s general country issues, nothing specific.”
He said it was a courtesy visit and meeting by the head of the US diplomatic mission in El Salvador.
For his part, Mance said as he left the Legislative Assembly, “We met very well with the Board of Directors of the Legislative Assembly,” and “without a doubt we will continue our talks.”
Neither of them mentioned whether during the meeting the issue of the dismissal of five constitutional judges and the attorney general was addressed by Parliament on 1 May after the takeover of the said body.
The diplomat arrived in the Central American country on Tuesday, the same day President Najib Bhukil arrived in Congress to deliver a speech marking his second year in office.
Mance promised that his embassy would remain a “neutral” space for Salvadoran society.
The new charge d’affaires, who was ambassador to El Salvador between 2016 and 2019, arrived at a time when relations between the two countries are strained.
Najib Bukele’s government has maintained a close relationship with the Donald Trump administration, but that changed with Democrat Joe Biden’s accession to the White House in January.
The United States criticized the move by the Legislative Assembly, led by allies of the Salvadoran president, to dismiss the judges of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Attorney General.
On a recent visit to El Salvador, the US special envoy for the Northern Triangle of Central America, Ricardo Zúñiga, considered the best option to end the crisis is to return to the previous balance of power.
Bukele, however, despite the fact that the decision is not among his constitutional powers, said the measure was “irreversible”.
