Former Rep. Matt Gaetz led the El Salvador Caucus Celebration of Friendship, commemorating the "zenith" of the friendship between the United States and El Salvador.
Formal relations between the United States and El Salvador began on Aug. 4, 1824, when President James Monroe recognized the independence of the Federation of Central American States, which encompassed modern-day El Salvador. While the relationship has fluctuated over the past 200 years, attendees approved Gaetz's statement with applause that the celebration at the National Archives commemorated the "zenith" of relations between the two countries.
“I want to thank the tremendous team here at the National Archives. It is no accident that we chose this location for a celebration of friendship. This is the place where the United States keeps our most precious and most important records. It seemed like an appropriate place to bring our precious and important friends,” he said.
"I truly believe that tonight marks the zenith of the U.S.-El Salvador relationship, as it tied to the United States Congress, and indeed, it's something we should all be proud of," Gaetz said.
The bipartisan El Salvador Caucus was formed in July, a development first reported by the Washington Examiner.
After an opening prayer from Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), the program featured speeches from Gaetz, Caucus co-chairman Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), newly appointed Caucus co-chairwoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Salvadoran Ambassador Carmen Milena Mayorga, Salvadoran Vice President Félix Augusto Antonio Ulloa Garay, and Salvadoran Legislative President Ernesto Alfredo Castro Aldana.
The speeches followed a broad theme, hailing the historic turnaround of El Salvador from the most dangerous country in the world to one of the safest, thanking Gaetz for his efforts in forming and supporting the caucus, and praising Nayib Bukele's leadership.
In his speech, Gaetz called attention to the caucus's first main accomplishment: the lowering of the country's travel advisory to Level 2. Gaetz thanked the Biden-Harris administration for taking action on the matter after the caucus called attention to it.
The lengthiest speech was from Castro, speaking through a translator. Putting together a grand narrative, he bemoaned the depths the country had descended into during its brutal civil war, one of the deadliest in Central American history, and the violence wrought by gangs throughout the 2000s and 2010s. Under the leadership of Bukele, he said, the country had "recovered hope and dignity."
"Friends and colleagues, tonight we concur that we have many things in common and that we agree on the most important things — the value of life, security, and the wellness of the people of both our countries," he said, adding that the night was commemorating the "mutual friendship and mutual respect" between the U.S. and El Salvador.
The night was also dominated by two major shifts — Gaetz's departure from the caucus and the upcoming change in leadership in the U.S. Speaking with the Washington Examiner, Mayorga expressed confidence that the relationship between the U.S. and El Salvador would continue to improve under the Trump administration.
"And now, with the new administration, I think we can also improve some areas like trade, we can have a good exchange experience in security, and much more. And I think we have a very good representation in the Congress, which is also very good for our diaspora," she said, noting there were 3 million Salvadorans living in the U.S.
She also noted past troubles between the U.S. and El Salvador, in line with the night's theme that the current moment was the high point of relations.
"We've been a true ally for the United States. Sometimes in the past, we didn't have the correct treatment. It was ... some unfair actions and events. So now, I think we're looking forward. We're happy that we know some new faces in the administration," citing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who has been tapped to be the next secretary of state, specifically.
In her speech, Mayorga stressed the cooperation of the U.S. and El Salvador in the realm of immigration, as the country was formerly one of the biggest sources of illegal immigration to the U.S. With the worst days behind it, Mayorga said that mass emigration had ended, as Salvadorans could now experience the "Salvadoran Dream."
According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of Salvadorans trying to cross the southern border illegally has declined 44% from its height in 2015 to 2023.
The Washington Examiner also spoke with Luna, who eyed immigration as the caucus's next primary target under her new leadership, as well as looking to recreate El Salvador's most successful policies in the United States.
"I think getting their message out there to a national audience, that El Salvador and the policies they've been implementing have worked, and ... if we're talking about the bigger picture addressing illegal immigration, and you can talk about some of the stats they have stabilizing the region, using strength to secure their country is a net positive for the U.S. and El Salvador."
Speaking with the Washington Examiner, Gaetz said that Luna was a natural choice as his successor, saying she and Gonzalez would make a good team.
"Anna has been a very active member of the caucus, she worked hard on the travel advisory issue with the Department of State, and she's a dynamic leader," he said. "So with a lot of Vincente's experiences in Central America and the energy and insight that congresswoman Luna brings, I think the best days for the U.S.-El Salvador congressional Caucus are yet to come."
Over the past five years, El Salvador has gone from a byword for dysfunction in American politics to a potential model for some, particularly for those on the Right. The turnaround was due to the controversial policies of Bukele.
Bukele won the 2019 election on an anti-establishment platform, particularly around promises to crack down on gang violence, which had paralyzed the country. Years into his administration, a massive statewide crackdown on gangs in 2022 effectively destroyed the infamous MS-13 and 18th Street gangs, which had de facto-ruled the country for more than a decade. Roughly 75,163 suspected gang members were arrested, according to Al Jazeera, and thrown in specially designed prisons.
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For all its criticism, the policy has led the Massachusetts-sized country to go from the most violent country on Earth to one of the safest, boasting the second-lowest murder rate in the Western Hemisphere behind only Canada.
Though the murder rate had declined for several years since an all-time peak in 2015 of 106 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, largely due to government negotiations with, and appeasement of, the two leading gangs, Bukele’s approach effectively broke the power of the gangs. El Salvador’s current murder rate is 92% lower than that of 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported.