Bukele justifies his actions

Today Nayib Bukele published an opinion piece in the Miami Herald pushing back against the critics of his use of the military in and around the chamber of the Legislative Assembly last weekend.  Bukele writes:

My administration was deeply concerned about a popular uprising of frustrated Salvadorans mobilized against the National Assembly. This is why we asked the military to be present, should violence erupt as tens of thousands of Salvadorans gathered outside the National Assembly calling for the removal of its members. 

Certain media interests falsely reported this as an attempt to take over that institution. But let me be clear: I respect the separation of powers. Anyone who suggests I was attempting to do such a thing is purposefully misrepresenting the truth. 

Rather than focusing on my attempts to protect the Salvadoran people, the media should focus on why the National Assembly continues failing the people of El Salvador. The focus should be on those in the National Assembly who protect their own by not revoking immunity given former Speaker Quijano, who has been indicted by the attorney general on charges of conspiring with terrorist groups. Quijano cannot be arraigned unless his immunity is revoked. Their hands are tainted with blood. 

My administration is trying to win back our nation with a security plan that enjoys more than 90 percent support from the people. These measures undoubtedly are not popular with the perpetrators of the bloodshed in both the ARENA and FMLN political parties for the past 30 years.

Bukele concludes:

The United States should always side with the good guys.  

I do need to at least comment on one point in the quoted passage.   The assembly of persons gathered outside the Legislative Assembly on a peaceful Sunday afternoon was not a spontaneous public uprising, but was an event expressly assembled by Bukele and his supporters.  As the event approached, government ministers were tweeting the hashtag "#ElPuebloManda" --  "the people govern" as they urged Bukele's supporters to gather.    Government vehicles were used to bring demonstrators to the Legislative Assembly from offices of Bukele's Nuevas Ideas party.  The idea that the military was asked to be present, or asked to enter in full tactical gear into the chamber of the Legislative Assembly, because of fear of violence from a rally which Bukele himself had called for, is simply re-writing the history of that day.

For a sampling of some of what Bukele was responding to, here is a collection of articles published in the English language press: 

Bukele's Politicization of the Military Revives Old Fears in El Salvador by Christine Wade in World Politics Review

El Salvador Knew Bukele was Brash, But His Military Show of Force was Ominous, by Frida Ghitis in World Politics Review

Salvadoran Militarism and Bukele’s Post-Postwar, Jorge Cuéllar in El Faro

A Wrecking Ball Moment: How Bukele’s Personal Power Grab Is Evidence of a Dangerous Ignorance of History by Héctor Lindo in El Faro

Constitutional Court to Bukele: Stop Using the Armed Forces to Put Democracy at Risk by Sergio Arauz in El Faro

The day the Commander-in-Chief militarized Congress  by Víctor Peña and Carlos Barrera

President Bukele, Brute Force Is Not the Way Forward for El Salvador by José Miguel Vivanco in the New York Times

Bukele up: El Salvador`s president summons the army to bully Congress,  The Economist

The Salvadoran president alarmingly violates democratic norms, Editorial Board of the Washington Post