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        {"code":"24434","sect":"El Salvador","sect_slug":"el-salvador","hits":"1357","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202005\/el_salvador\/24434","link_edit":"","name":"Bukele Bypasses Legislative Assembly and Extends the State of Emergency by Decree","slug":"bukele-bypasses-legislative-assembly-and-extends-the-state-of-emergency-by-decree","info":"Nayib Bukele\u2019s government issued an executive decree on Saturday night to extend the National Emergency declared by the Legislative Assembly on March 14 for 30 days, which was renewed in April. The move came 24 hours after the Assembly refused a further extension, arguing that the Executive is not being transparent about its emergency expenses nor has it released its road map to navigate the pandemic. The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic considered Bukele\u2019s move an &amp;quot;act of usurpation of powers&amp;quot; and announced that it will ask the Supreme Court to declare the new decree unconstitutional. Civil society organizations warned that this is another act of constitutional rupture on behalf of Bukele.","mtag":"Politics","noun":{"html":"\u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/mnochez'\u003E Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez\u003C\/span\u003E","data":{"maria-luz-nochez":{"sort":"mnochez","slug":"maria-luz-nochez","path":"maria_luz_nochez","name":"Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez","edge":"0","init":"0"}}},"view":"1357","pict":{"cms-image-000033687-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"33687","name":"cms-image-000033687.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033687.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033687.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000033687-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Ministers and other officials of the executive branch, during a press conference on the night of Saturday, May 16, announcing the extension, by decree, of the Covid-19 State of Emergency. Photo from El Faro: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a.&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EMinisters and other officials of the executive branch, during a press conference on the night of Saturday, May 16, announcing the extension, by decree, of the Covid-19 State of Emergency. Photo from El Faro: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a.\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000033688-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"33688","name":"cms-image-000033688.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033688.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033688.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000033688-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;The Amatepec Hospital, on Army Boulevard in Soyapango. The center of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute has received covid-19 patients since the beginning of the emergency.\u00a0&lt;\/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;Photo from El Faro: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a.&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Amatepec Hospital, on Army Boulevard in Soyapango. The center of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute has received covid-19 patients since the beginning of the emergency.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPhoto from El Faro: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a.\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":33687,"date":{"live":"2020\/05\/18"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2020","data_post_dateLive_MM":"05","data_post_dateLive_DD":"18","text":"\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EDuring a tense Saturday night, preceded by strong rumors that the Executive was planning to declare a state of exception, the Government of El Salvador announced an executive decree that aims to extend the State of Emergency brought on by COVID-19 for 30 more days. The decision was made public at a press conference called urgently and which started after 11 pm on Saturday the 16th, less than an hour before the legislative decree that regulated the State of Emergency during the past month expired, and just 24 hours after the Assembly refused to grant Nayib Bukele\u2019s government an extension, alleging a \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202005\/el_salvador\/24407\/%E2%80%9CPedimos-el-plan-de-emergencia-la-reorientaci%C3%B3n-de-fondos-pero-nunca-recibimos-un-informe%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003Elack of transparency in the use of funds to combat the pandemic\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe new executive decree unleashed immediate criticism from different civil society organizations, which denounced that the presidency is invading the powers of the legislative branch. The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic has already announced that it will file a claim of unconstitutionality against the decree before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn a statement issued after midnight, two hours after the Executive's announcement, the Prosecutor's Office described the new decree as an \"act of usurpation of powers.\" \"A suspension of rights can only be carried out through a formal law issued by the Legislative Assembly, so the announced executive decree could exceed its powers,\" said the text; \"Although article 24 of the Civil Protection Law grants the power of the President of the Republic to decree a State of Emergency, in this case the conditions for decreeing such state by the Executive Branch are not met.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ETo justify the announcement, the National Civil Protection Committee, with the Minister of the Interior, Mario Dur\u00e1n, at its head, invoked article 24 of the Civil Protection Law, which says that, in case the Assembly is not in session, the President of the Republic may decree a State of Emergency. The Prosecutor's Office refutes the argument, stating: \"The Legislative Assembly is not unable to meet at this time, so it has the legal and constitutional legitimacy to analyze the State of Emergency.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBukele continued pressing his case throughout Saturday from his Twitter account, demanding that the Assembly meet on that same day. The president of the Legislative body, however, scheduled a meeting for Monday at 3:00 pm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBukele\u2019s move calls to mind the events beginning last February, when the Assembly held an emergency session Saturday, February 8, in search of an agreement to authorize the Executive to negotiate a loan that would finance its security strategy. Failing to do so, the assembly scheduled a new plenary session for Monday, February 10, but President Bukele wanted to force it to meet on Sunday, February 9. He entered into the chamber \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202002\/el_salvador\/24008\/Bukele-mete-al-Ej%C3%A9rcito-en-la-Asamblea-y-amenaza-con-disolverla-dentro-de-una-semana.htm\"\u003Ewith the military and threatened to dissolve it \u003C\/a\u003Ein a show of force and intimidation of the Legislative power that received unanimous international condemnation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=2000&ImageHeight=1220&ImageId=33687 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Ministers and other officials of the executive branch, during a press conference on the night of Saturday, May 16, announcing the extension, by decree, of the Covid-19 State of Emergency. Photo from El Faro: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a.\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Ministers and other officials of the executive branch, during a press conference on the night of Saturday, May 16, announcing the extension, by decree, of the Covid-19 State of Emergency. Photo from El Faro: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a. \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFMLN deputy Gustavo Acosta described the attempt by the Executive to decree an extension of the National Emergency Law as a \u201cflagrant violation of the Constitution.\u201d \"An executive decree cannot extend a legislative decree,\" he explains. PDC deputy Rodolfo Parker also maintained that, by extending a law, the president and his ministers have broken the constitutional order \"invoking a false cause.\" He said that the Assembly has met permanently and that the decision not to approve the Executive's request for an extension is due to \"all the irregularities\" that have occurred in its management of the emergency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ERolando Alvarenga, former president of the Arena party and Legal Secretary during the presidency of Armando Calder\u00f3n Sol (1994-1999), argued that the Executive cannot claim that it\u2019s applying the Civil Protection Law when President Mario Ponce summoned the deputies that same Saturday for a plenary session on May 18. Ponce himself defended the time that the Assembly is taking to evaluate a new State of Emergency: \"The Government \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202005\/el_salvador\/24369\/Gobierno-incumple-compromiso-de-reportar-a-la-Asamblea-los-gastos-de-emergencia.htm\"\u003Ehas not sent the complete and detailed reports on how the disbursements of all the resources have been used\u003C\/a\u003E,\" he insisted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Assembly had also demanded that the Executive introduce a plan to reactivate the economy, which the Government submitted on Thursday the 14th and has not yet been discussed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Question of Limits\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\"We have not moved a single comma,\" said Conan Castro, legal secretary of the presidency, in defense of the decree. Castro, who was in charge of announcing the measure on behalf of Bukele, defended the decision, arguing that the Executive is trying to give \"legal certainty to citizens\" and to maintain without variation the provisions that have operated in recent weeks and that are included in \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.diariooficial.gob.sv\/diarios\/do-2020\/03-marzo\/14-03-2020.pdf\"\u003ELegislative Decree 593\u003C\/a\u003E, which was approved on 14 March and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.diariooficial.gob.sv\/diarios\/do-2020\/04-abril\/16-04-2020.pdf\"\u003Eextended by the Assembly on April 16\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThat literalness is part of the problem. President Bukele tried on Saturday night to justify his decree via Twitter, publishing the declaration of a State of Emergency made in 2009 by President Mauricio Funes (2009-2014) in reaction to Hurricane Ida. But unlike that executive decree, Legislative Decree 593 not only makes a declaration of national emergency and includes measures to be executed by the Government, but, among other things, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.elfaro.net\/es\/202003\/el_salvador\/24173\/Gobierno-no-estar%C3%A1-obligado-a-cumplir-la-Lacap-para-comprar-insumos-m%C3%A9dicos.htm\"\u003Etemporarily annuls the Procurement and Contracting Law (Lacap) \u003C\/a\u003Eto facilitate the Executive to make emergency purchases and transfers of public funds directly to providers of medical supplies, in order to face the coronavirus pandemic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBy trying to extend 593 without the Assembly\u2019s endorsement, the Executive is giving itself the power to continue to avoid the controls the general laws establish for the use of public funds for another month. The decree also bestows upon the Executive the authorization \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202004\/el_salvador\/24237\/El-Gobierno-tambi%C3%A9n-puso-en-cuarentena-el-acceso-a-la-informaci%C3%B3n-p%C3%BAblica.htm\"\u003Eto not comply with the Access to Public Information Law \u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EConsulted on Saturday night, the ex-magistrate of the Constitutional Chamber, Rodolfo Gonz\u00e1lez, said he considered the decree is void and that, \"for legal security,\" the Constitutional Chamber must go to work and officially declare the decree null. Another former magistrate of the Chamber, who asked not to be identified, said that what the Executive announced is \"the interpretation and application of the Constitution and the laws at [Bukele\u2019s] whim.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOther jurists differed as to whether the Constitutional Chamber should decide ex officio or wait for the complaint of a third party. Efra\u00edn Ar\u00e9valo, a constitutional lawyer, said that the lack of agreements between the Executive and the Legislative cannot be interpreted as \u201cfailure to meet\u201d, and affirmed that an executive decree can never extend a legislative decree. He defended, however, that what happened does not justify an ex officio action by the Chamber: \"If someone is interested, they can file the lawsuit,\" he said. \"In principle, the Chamber only acts at the request of the party.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EMinutes before the extension of the state of emergency was announced, civil organizations called for respect for the constitutional powers of each state organ. \"Any attempt to annul the powers of the government bodies or illegitimately compel them to come to a resolution... breaks down the constitutional order by ignoring the separation of powers,\" declared the NGO Acci\u00f3n Ciudadana. Once the announcement was made, Acci\u00f3n Ciudadana, the Iberoamerican Institute of Constitutional Law, the Center for Legal Studies and Democracy, Transparency and Justice Foundation published a joint statement in which they denounced that the new decree \"exceeds the powers of the Executive body,\" and defended its nullity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn recent weeks, international organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have denounced actions taken by the Nayib Bukele government in the fight against covid-19, for being violating Human Rights or violating the independence of powers. Since the health crisis began, Bukele has disregarded Supreme Court resolutions, defended the use of deadly force by public security forces, and confronted various sectors of civil society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn mid-April, he accused human rights organizations of \"wanting more Salvadorans to die,\" for reporting serious cases of police abuse. This week, after the resignation on Monday 11 of \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202005\/el_salvador\/24407\/%E2%80%9CPedimos-el-plan-de-emergencia-la-reorientaci%C3%B3n-de-fondos-pero-nunca-recibimos-un-informe%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003Efive members of the Committee \u003C\/a\u003Eappointed by the Assembly to monitor the public funds used in the response to the emergency, Bukele said that from now on he would not acknowledge Javier Sim\u00e1n as representative of the National Association of Private Enterprise (ANEP).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThree days later, the authorities closed, with the support of the Police and the Army, four factories from different companies that were manufacturing protective supplies for doctors or for fighting the spread of the virus at home, on the grounds that they were not complying with sanitary measures or that they did not have permits. Business unions, including ANEP, consider it part of a campaign of \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ANEPElSalvador\/status\/1261380799753928704\"\u003E\"harassment, attack, and discredit\" \u003C\/a\u003Elaunched by the Executive. The Minister of Labor, Rolando Castro, assured that these are not acts of persecution of any business leader.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Quarantine Continues\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EDuring the press conference in which the executive decree was announced, the Health Minister, Fran Alab\u00ed, argued that the health system is \u201cdays away from collapse\u201d and brought forward a tragic scenario if the Executive is not given the legal tools it\u2019s asking for: \"We will not be able to provide medical care to all patients,\" he said. The Minister of the Interior, Mario Dur\u00e1n, also justified the measure due to the health crisis that covid-19 can generate in the country: \u201cIt is necessary to take extraordinary measures. We are at the point of collapse,\u201d he said. Both insisted on the need to maintain the mandatory quarantine throughout the country to continue to stop infections.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAccording to the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/covid19.gob.sv\/\"\u003Eofficial data available\u003C\/a\u003E, the public health system is currently treating 23 patients in critical condition due to the new coronavirus, while 39 are in serious condition. Of the 849 active cases with the disease, the majority (444) are asymptomatic and do not require hospitalization, let alone treatment in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). In El Salvador, \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202003\/el_salvador\/24193\/%E2%80%9CCon-tan-pocas-pruebas-es-dif%C3%ADcil-afirmar-que-el-virus-no-anda-circulando-en-el-pa%C3%ADs%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003Eaccording to the Medical College\u003C\/a\u003E, there are a total of 125 intensive care beds, including those of the Ministry of Health, Social Security, and private hospitals. The Salvadoran health system also has patients who require care in regular services, such as cancer patients or who have suffered trauma.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=2000&ImageHeight=1180&ImageId=33688 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"The Amatepec Hospital, on Army Boulevard in Soyapango. The center of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute has received covid-19 patients since the beginning of the emergency.\u00a0 Photo from El Faro: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a.\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E The Amatepec Hospital, on Army Boulevard in Soyapango. The center of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute has received covid-19 patients since the beginning of the emergency.\u00a0 Photo from El Faro: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a. \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIt is currently unknown how many of those ICU beds are still available. On May 5, President Bukele publicly said that since the pandemic began, his government had remodeled and expanded the network of public hospitals so that it was ready to attend new cases. When those beds were full, he said, the temporary beds being installed at the International Center for Fairs and Conventions (Cifco), as well as in the new hospital being built in front of Cifco, were going to start to be used. \"El Salvador had 100 ICUs, and when we finish there will be a thousand in total,\" he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBut \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.elsalvador.com\/noticias\/nacional\/coronavirus-hospitale-cifco-obras-pubicas-romero-herrera\/699945\/2020\/\"\u003Ethere are delays in the delivery of the promised \u003C\/a\u003EICUs. The Cifco pavilions were supposed to be ready by the end of April, the hospital in mid-June. In addition, in recent days, the Government has not been able to guarantee the necessary medical protective supplies for health personnel, as denounced on the same Saturday, May 16, by members of the nursing staff of the San Rafael Hospital.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe representative of the World Health Organization in El Salvador, Carlos Garz\u00f3n, has stated that 5% of all coronavirus patients go through intensive care. Minister Alab\u00ed said on May 16 that 20% of patients require advanced treatment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe emergency declaration was not, in any case, necessary to maintain the mandatory confinement. Although the state of emergency decree expired on the night of May 16, this did not imply the end of home quarantine, which is protected by the Regulation for Isolation, Quarantine, Observation and Surveillance by covid-19, approved by the Assembly on May 5 and effective until Tuesday 19. This law establishes that the entire country is subject to sanitary control and empowers the Executive to establish additional circulation measures that it considers necessary to combat the pandemic. Executive decree 24, which established the so-called \u201cspecial quarantine,\u201d was released on May 10 and runs until Thursday, May 21.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAs for the suspension of payments for basic services for three months, it is covered by another legislative decree, the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.asamblea.gob.sv\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/decretos\/4E1357E8-7C13-4AE2-A35F-ECC049FB5F84.pdf\"\u003ETransitory Law to defer the payment of bills for water, electricity and telecommunications services (telephone, cable and internet)\u003C\/a\u003E, which was approved by the Assembly on March 20.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ENeither the suspension of school classes and public events, indicated as key preventive actions by the secretary Conan Castro, need the Emergency Law to be applied, but can be determined by the Ministries of Education and Government under the aforementioned Quarantine Law, which in its first article establishes that \"the entire population must remain in domiciliary security, and may only leave their home or residence in authorized cases.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe extension of the Quarantine Law is on the agenda to be discussed by the plenary of the Legislative Assembly on Monday, May 18.\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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