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LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR

LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR

A daily publication Of the dialogue

February 14, 2025

What Constitutional Changes Are in Store for El Salvador?

El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly, which is dominated by President Nayib Bukele’s party, last month made it easier to make changes to the country’s constitution. // File Photo: Salvadoran Government.

Q

El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly on Jan. 29 ratified a reform that will speed the process of amending the country’s constitution. The change eliminates the requirement that constitutional changes be approved in one legislature but then ratified by the next assembly, after elections. What are the main reasons behind the change? What types of constitutional amendments is it likely to enable in the near future? What does the reform mean for President Nayib Bukele’s hold on power?

A

Leonor Arteaga, program director at the Due Process of Law Foundation: “The previous process for constitutional reform was designed to be serious and inclusive, allowing ample time for public debate and ensuring that a variety of expert perspectives could weigh in on constitutional changes. Now, with the modification of Article 248, constitutional amendments can be swept through with the vote of three-fourths of the legislature. President Nayib Bukele’s party holds 54 seats in a 60-seat Legislative Assembly—essentially meaning that the executive branch will be able to change El Salvador’s constitution at will, with no counterbalances or citizen input. The ruling party’s congressional supermajority, coupled with Bukele’s history of pushing through significant legal changes with no consultation, have already had serious antidemocratic consequences, among them reforms weakening anticorruption mechanisms and the successful elimination of the constitutional prohibition on consecutive re-election. In a context where not only the Legislative Assembly, but also the judiciary, has been coopted by the executive branch, and due process rights have been…”

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