The BBC explains, in its article, the keys to understanding the sentiment of the Salvadoran people.
The attack on members of the FMLN
Two people died, and another five were injured after several men opened fire on a caravan of the Farabundo Martí de Liberación Nacional (FMLN).
Affiliates attended a rally for the campaign launch of the candidate, Rogelio Canales.
Bukele, against peace
“We have never experienced something so dramatic in the 29 years of peace accords”, assured the general secretary of the FMLN, Óscar Ortiz.
Nayib Bukele has not rejected these criminal acts in his social networks. A striking fact, since the rest of the political parties, also opponents of the FMLN, have declared that they are against violence.
The FMLN targets, directly, the president of the country. “That is the hatred that Bukele fosters”, indicates the head of the parliamentary group, Nidia Díaz.
The tense relationship between Nuevas Ideas and the FMLN
Members of Nuevas Ideas dance in front of a coffin, with an FMLN flag
Since Bukele reached the presidency and defeated the FMLN, which had ruled El Salvador since 2009, tensions have mounted at the polls.
The president has accused the former guerrilla of corruption and leads the country to poverty and violence during his time in power. The party has accused the ruler of taking autocratic positions and “punishing those who do not agree with them”.
After the attack on the members of the FMLN, the organization published a statement in which they claimed that what happened had been the result of “the sustained hate campaign by the Presidential House and President Bukele against our party and our militancy”.
The questions between both parties multiplied in mid-January after Bukele decreed the end of the commemorations of the peace accords traditionally celebrated in the country and that we’re one of the most important dates for the FMLN.
Elections, February 28
A blow to democracy. This is how Bukele's performance was presented in February 2020.
The Government of Nuevas Ideas had been pressuring the Legislative Assembly to approve a loan that would finance a phase of its anti-gang plan.
However, the Congress - with an opposition majority - was reluctant to give its approval, claiming opacity in the Executive's plan.
Given this, a request came from Bukele accompanied by the soldiers from the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES). They surrounded Parliament on Saturday, February 8, while they installed a platform from which Bukele spoke to thousands of his followers on the day next.
These events leave their mark, in the elections, on February 28, in El Salvador.
At the meeting, some 5.4 million Salvadorans will have to elect the 84 deputies of the unicameral Congress, and the 262 mayors of the country and their municipal councils.
They will also have to elect a score of deputies of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), a political institution dedicated to integrating the countries of the region.
Opposition parties fear
that Bukele's total control over Congress will give the president
“unlimited power”.
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