Thousands of people in El Salvador are protesting against President Bukele

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Protests in El Salvador

Photo: Rodrigo Sura / EPA

In El Salvador, thousands of people took to the streets against the government of President Nayib Bukele.

The protest on Sunday in the capital San Salvador was directed, among other things, against the introduction of Bitcoin as the official currency alongside the dollar.

Signs such as "No to dictatorship" and "Bitcoin is a fraud" could be read on protest posters.

"People are getting tired of this authoritarian government, it is undemocratic," said environmental activist Ricardo Navarro of the AFP news agency.

The introduction of bitcoin as the official currency is one of Bukele's "bad ideas" that are damaging the country's economy.

On September 7th, El Salvador was the first country in the world to introduce cryptocurrency as its official currency and set up 200 change machines in the country.

The US dollar has been used as a means of payment in El Salvador since 2001.

This makes the country dependent on the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve.

For the nation's economic growth, it is necessary to allow a digital currency, the value of which depends solely on market economy criteria, says the text of the law.

The population viewed the new currency with great skepticism. More than two thirds of the 6.5 million inhabitants spoke out in two different surveys in favor of keeping the dollar as the sole currency. Economic experts and international actors such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund had also expressed concerns. The cryptocurrency is considered an object of speculation and is subject to violent price fluctuations.

Feminist groups, human rights activists and opposition representatives also took part in the protests on Sunday.

Medardo González of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front accused Bukele of attacking the independence of the judiciary.

"This is something that only a dictatorial government would do and we don't want that in El Salvador," said the opposition politician.

mfh / AFP