Cardin, Durbin, Kaine, Merkley Statement on Elections in El Salvador

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) issued a statement following the conclusion of elections in El Salvador:

“We congratulate the people of El Salvador and those in the Salvadoran diaspora who exercised their democratic right to vote over the weekend. While people exercised their right to vote, we are troubled by the unconstitutional moves that strongly influenced the outcome of Sunday’s election and statements by the Vice President about “eliminating” and “replacing” democracy. While we acknowledge the government’s progress on combatting the violent crime that has plagued El Salvador for too long, we remain concerned about weakened transparency and oversight mechanisms and the rapid undermining of the rule of law and human rights protections. We are committed to working with all our partners in the region to promote long-term stability and commitments to rights-based rule of law. We look forward to partnering with El Salvador to support its return to the constitutional order.”

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