News, history, culture and analysis of El Salvador and the Salvadoran people.
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Nayib Bukele was one of the Latin American leaders who accepted Donald Trump’s invitation to attend an inaugural meeting of the “Shield of the Americas” at the Trump-owned Doral golf course in Miami. It was a convening of a dozen politically-aligned, conservative led countries in the Americas, saying they would work together to combat drug trafficking. Trump has had a focus on drug cartels and…
San Salvador fire A collection of recent news from El Salvador. Fire in San Salvador Claims Five Lives in Historic District Blaze (Tico Times, Feb. 14, 2026) -- A major fire in the historic center of San Salvador killed five as it tore through warehouse space, business and residences. The burned-out block is two blocks south of Plaza Libertad, part of the zone gradually being gentrified into a…
The price of Bitcoin this morning was around $67,250, down 45% from its high above $120,000 in October. This represented a decline of roughly $300 million in the value of the country's Bitcoin reserves in just four months. In an article titled Fall in bitcoin puts pressure on El Salvador's debt and complicates the relationship with the IMF , Bloomberg suggests that this fall in value of the…
Over the last month, Nayib Bukele has been attributing public security in El Salvador to either mass incarceration or a miracle from God for those who pray. Presidential Visit to Costa Rica Bukele traveled to Alajuela, Costa Rica, on January 14 to join President Rodrigo Chaves for the groundbreaking for a new prison. The month before, in December 2025, Chaves had visited the CECOT prison in El…
Last week El Salvador and the US signed a new trade agreement . El Salvador agreed to a number of measures designed to make it easier for US producers to get their goods into the Central American country in return for removing the 10% tariff Trump imposed in the spring of last year. One provision involved opening up access to minerals in El Salvador to the US according to Reuters : The United…
The Institute of Public Opinion at the UCA has released its annual public opinion poll regarding Salvadorans' views of the current reality in their country. In short, they continue to be optimistic, and give the credit to Nayib Bukele. 61% believe the country is better than it was the year before. 41.8% believe their families' economic situation will improve in 2026, while only 13% believe it will…
Data from the US and Salvadoran governments show the impact which the mass deportation regime and anti-migrant rhetoric of Donald Trump is having on Salvadorans living in the US. Many more people are being arrested in the interior of the US so they can be deported to El Salvador, while there was a dramatic drop in the number of Salvadorans caught crossing the southern US border. Official…
There is possible movement towards resolution of the case of the 1981 El Mozote Massacre. A judge has ordered the case into its final phase against the military commanders who led during some of the bloodiest years of El Salvador's civil war. The El Mozote massacre took place on December 10-11, 1981. All but one of the civilians taking refuge in the small village of El Mozote and in surrounding…
The military incursion by the United State on January 3, to arrest Venezuela's dictator-president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, sent ripples throughout Latin America. From El Salvador, president Nayib Bukele backed the capture by US troops. Venezuela and Venezuelans have been a thread running throughout Bukele's political career. His start in politics was partly fueled with oil dollars from the…
