King Felipe VI attended this Saturday in San Salvador for the inauguration of the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who was re-elected for a second term on February 4 by an overwhelming majority, as reported by Casa Real.
Don Felipe attended the investiture ceremony, which takes place at the National Palace in Plaza Gerardo Barrios, in the Historic Center of San Salvador, after having held a meeting with the Salvadoran president. Accompanied by the Secretary of State for Ibero-America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Susana Sumelzo, he also received a representation of the Spanish community in the Central American country.
Previously, upon his arrival at the airport this Friday, the King was received by the Chancellor of the Republic, Alexandra Hill; the Spanish ambassador in El Salvador, Carlos de la Morena; and the representative of El Salvador in Spain, Joaquín Alexander. The Salvadoran Government has indicated that “his presence is a symbol of the close friendship and cooperation” between both countries, according to the Salvadoran newspaper ‘El Mundo’.
This trip to El Salvador is the second he has made to attend an inauguration of an Ibero-American leader this year, after attending that of the president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, last January. With this, there are fifteen trips of this type that he has made since his accession to the throne, which will soon be ten years old.
The presence of other international heads of state and government is expected at the event, including the Argentine president, Javier Milei, who will coincide in the midst of the diplomatic crisis between Spain and Argentina, the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani; and a delegation from the United States.
On the other hand, some deputies from the main opposition parties in El Salvador will not be at the investiture, since they maintain that this second term violates the Constitution, despite the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice that opened the door to re-election.
The ruling party in El Salvador, Nuevas Ideas, achieved 82 percent of the votes in the February elections within the framework of the war against gangs in the country, for which Bukele imposed a state of exception in March 2022 that It has continued since then, with no signs of ending.
The success of his security strategy leads to some 74,000 detainees, the dismantling of gangs and homicide rates among the lowest in Latin America through the suspension of fundamental rights, such as expression and organization.
