The Salvadoran Government ordered the demolition of the Monument to Reconciliation in San Salvador. The structure was made up of three statues that symbolize the Peace Agreements between the State and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrilla, after the end of the civil war that lasted more than a decade. The demolition was ordered in the midst of Nayib Bukele's presidential re-election campaign, which promises the construction of “a new country.”
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The monument with three sculptures was inaugurated in 2017 to celebrate 25 years of the Peace Agreements signed in Mexico between the Salvadoran State and the guerrilla organizations represented by the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).
Nayib Bukele, who is not currently serving as president, announced on platform
Furthermore, he assured, The monument “symbolized a 'pact' between former guerrillas and the military that did not mean well-being for Salvadorans”.
The supposed “monument to reconciliation”, inaugurated by the FMLN government in 2017; that not only was it aesthetically horrible, but it glorified the pact between the murderers of our people, to share the cake; has been demolished.
In its place, a new… pic.twitter.com/J50nDBfMyf
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) January 3, 2024
Currently, Bukele is in an electoral campaign: he seeks to be re-elected as president even though the Salvadoran Constitution did not authorize him. However, he sealed his candidacy after a ruling by the Constitutional Chamber—whose judges were chosen by the president—which made a controversial reading of the Magna Carta and enabled him to run again for the presidential elections.
In addition, Bukele has great popularity for reducing homicide numbers, which according to official data fell by 70% during 2023.
Thus, the young president seeks a new mandate in which he assures that he will continue with the construction of “a new El Salvador” that “really represents an era of peace.” Bukele has been critical of the peace reached between the ex-guerrillas and the State, and believes that the war against gangs through the indefinite state of emergency can definitively end violence in the Central American country.
The Minister of Public Works, Romeo Rodríguez, declared before the press that “the monument represented corruption.”
“Let's say goodbye to those monuments. A statue that is here costs more than a million dollars. Even the artist himself said that the monument is crude, full of rigidity and has defects in anatomy and proportion.”
Rodríguez announced that a 2.5 km pedestrian route will be built and will be part of “the new peace and security that all Salvadorans experience,” as a result of the fight against Bukele's gangs.
A controversial demolition
Although the demolition of the Reconciliation monument is only symbolic, the message it represents is drastic for the victims of the civil war and for the political opposition to Bukele, which is grouped by two of the main sides that were at war: the party Arena and the FMLN.
The conflict in El Salvador existed between 1980 and 1992. The FMLN guerrilla faced the Salvadoran Army, financed by the United States in a context of the Cold War. The FMLN brought together various leftist sectors and opponents of the authoritarian regimes that governed during the time. The civil war caused 75,000 deaths and thousands missing.
The monument to Reconciliation was made up of three bronze statues: two of seven meters that symbolized a former guerrilla combatant and a soldier in fatigue clothing, unarmed, with their hands clasped, releasing aluminum doves, and that represented the sides of the past conflict. The third statue, 12 meters tall, was a mother with outstretched arms who had a ring on her right finger that represented society's commitment to living in peace.
“Goodbye, blue doll, and everything you represented,” Bukele wrote in X after the demolition.
Authoritarian measures of the Government of El Salvador
Human rights groups have said the crackdown has included abuses such as torture, deaths in custody and arbitrary detentions. In fact, Human Rights Watch reports forced disappearances, torture, deaths in custody, and hundreds of arbitrary detentions in its publication titled 'El Salvador: Widespread abuses during the emergency regime'.
The state of emergency declared in early 2022 allows police to quickly arrest and jail suspected gang members, while suspending their right to counsel and court approval of pretrial detention.
Since it came into force, Security forces have arrested nearly 75,000 suspected gang members and released 7,000, according to official data.
NGOs have reported 190 deaths and more than 5,000 abuses related to the repression.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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