Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in El Salvador.

The UK Government welcomes the fact that the legislative and municipal elections in El Salvador on 28 February were largely peaceful, and that the results appear to reflect the will of the people. However, we were concerned at the shrinking of political and media space in the run up to the elections.

The UK is keen to strengthen its bilateral relationship with El Salvador, and will continue to follow post-election developments closely. Our Embassy in San Salvador regularly engages with the Government of El Salvador and other partners on areas of shared interest, including human rights, governance, climate change, and implementation of the new UK-Central America Association Agreement. I also raised a number of these issues with the El Salvador Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexandra Hill, when we spoke in October 2020.