Prior to the crisis, President Nayib Bukele wanted a loan of 109 million dollars from the United States in order to improve the National Civil Police of El Salvador and the Armed Forces of El Salvador for his "Territorial Control Plan." On February 7, Bukele, under the protection of numeral 7 of article 167 of the Constitution of El Salvador, called on the Council of Ministers to convene in the Legislative Assembly. On February 8, President Bukele again made use of the Constitution by invoking the use of article 87, which authorizes a popular insurrection in case of breaking the constitutional order. On February 9, Bukele entered into the Blue Room, accompanied by military personnel, and sat in the chair of Assembly President Mario Ponce. The next day, the Supreme Court of El Salvador prohibited the President from calling the Legislative Assembly, also prohibited all public forces, including the Ministry of Defense, from exercising functions other than those allowed by the Constitution. Bukele expressed dissatisfaction with the order and stated that "the system protects itself", but abided by the Supreme Court's order.
Reactions
Small demonstrations against Bukele were reported, mainly grouped at the University of El Salvador in San Salvador. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch described the actions of the President as "dangerous" and "serious," respectively. Despite public mobilization during the event in support of the loan request and in protest of the Legislative Assembly's abstinence, both the ARENA and FMLN parties accused the use of troops in the Blue Room as a self-coup. Bukele denied the claims of a self-coup stating that "if I was a dictator, I would have taken control of everything." The FMLN accused that several of its parliamentarians were harassed by the government. The FMLN also stated it will ask for an appeal against Francis Merino and Rogelio Rivas for their participation in the crisis on February 9. On February 24, Monsignor José Luis Escobar Alas, President of the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador and the Archbishop of San Salvador, asked people to "lower the tone of mutual attacks, or one for the other, because in this way we cannot move forward, because in the end the one that is affected is the people to avoid a new conflict," in reference to the Salvadoran Civil War.
