Wednesday, 30 April 2025

House Republican To Visit El Salvador And Meet With President Nayib Bukele

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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said she accepted a “personal invitation” to visit El Salvador and meet with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

“I am honored to accept a personal invitation to meet with President Bukele,” Luna said.

“Unlike Senator Van Hollen, who drank margaritas with a cartel member, I’ll be focused on strengthening the partnership between our nations, advancing shared commitments to safety, freedom, and national pride as well as discussing our commitments to continuing to fight for human rights,” she added.

A closer look:

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The Hill reports:

Luna’s meeting with Bukele is set for May 8 at the president’s residence, according to the invitation the House lawmaker shared.

Her trip to El Salvador follows House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) leading a group of House GOP lawmakers on a visit to the CECOT prison last week.

Four Democrats — Reps. Maxwell Frost (Fla.), Maxine Dexter (Ore.), Yassamin Ansari (Ariz.) and Robert Garcia (Calif.) — also traveled to El Salvador in hopes of meeting with Abrego Garcia, whom the administration has accused of being a member of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia has not been charged with a crime. He entered the country illegally, according to court documents Attorney General Pam Bondi shared last week.

Democratic lawmakers have argued that the administration has ignored the Supreme Court’s order to facilitate the Maryland man’s return, while Republicans have dug in, seeing it as a winning issue for both President Trump and the party.

From POLITICO:

Luna, who chairs the bipartisan Congressional El Salvador Caucus, has been critical of Democrats’ efforts to secure Abrego Garcia’s release, writing in response to Van Hollen’s visit last week: “Do you represent Maryland or MS-13? Lately it’s hard to tell.”

But attempts by the administration to attack Democrats’ support for Abrego Garcia have not succeeded in slowing the party’s efforts to secure his release. More Democratic lawmakers followed Van Hollen’s lead this week, with Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine Dexter of Oregon traveling to El Salvador to demand compliance with the court order to return the Maryland resident.

Bukele, who denied the four Democrats’ requests to meet with Abrego Garcia this week, mocked the group on X, reupping several posts taking aim at the Democrats for trying to see the wrongfully deported man. After posting photos of Van Hollen’s meeting with Abrego Garcia last week, Bukele took a similarly taunting tone, writing on X: “I love chess.”

Asked about Luna’s planned trip during a press briefing on Tuesday, Frost said “it does show that it’s become a partisan issue,” adding that unlike Luna’s personal invitation to the country, the Democratic members “didn’t receive any kind of invitation.”

Luna’s co-chair of the El Salvador Caucus, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), also plans to attend the “bipartisan trip,” a spokesperson for Gonzalez’s office said on Tuesday.

Gonzalez, who attended Bukele’s most recent inauguration last year, has been less keen to engage in a battle with the Salvadoran president than his fellow Democrats. In a statement last week, the Texan said Bukele should “play the long game,” and that “it would be a real disgrace to see him squander what he has achieved,” adding that he hoped to visit the Salvadoran president soon.


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