El Salvador
Impact | Negative
Probability | Medium
Civicus Rating | Obstructed
The political handling of the pandemic in El Salvador has been characterized by disputes between the three branches of the State over the way in which prevention and containment efforts should be regulated. In particular, one of the most discussed issues has been the limitation on fundamental rights, such as to free movement and to assembly, through executive decrees. On this occasion, the regulations approved by the Legislative Branch explicitly included in its article 8 a clause in this regard, indicating that any restriction of rights must be strictly for health reasons and cannot be applied in a generalized way in all or part of the national territory. The Executive Branch had sought to block the regulation, vetoing it in response to its supposed unconstitutionality. Now, since the Assembly has managed to bypass this veto, it will be down to the Judicial Branch to rule on the validity of the proposal.
