San Salvador (AFP)

The Salvadoran parliament, dominated by supporters of President Nayib Bukele, voted Wednesday to end the tax exemptions enjoyed by newspapers, mostly critical of the government.

After raising an international outcry and in Salvadoran opposition circles by dismissing the high constitutional magistrates and the attorney general, the deputies approved by an overwhelming majority of 68 votes of the 84 parliamentarians the proposal of deputy Christian Guevara, of the presidential party, to revoke the law which "for more than 70 years prevented newspapers from paying taxes".

For Mr. Guevara, it was "to put an end to the longest, continuous and shameful tax evasion in the history" of El Salvador.

In the name of "the free dissemination of thought", the Printing Laws of 1950 exempted from tax the printing of newspapers, magazines, bulletins and books.

Imports of paper and ink as well as the direct sale of newspapers were also exempt from taxes.

These tax privileges will henceforth be reserved only for publications "intended directly for educational purposes".

This decision comes in the context of a political crisis opened by the dismissal by the new parliament, on the day it took office on Saturday, of the constitutional judges and the Attorney General, which President Bukele had repeatedly encountered.

The head of state convened Monday the diplomatic corps to reply to the international criticisms which followed the dismissal of the magistrates.

The Salvadoran government released the video recording of the meeting on Tuesday, showing Mr. Bukele scolding the ambassadors by accusing them of favoring the opposition's assertions.

Known for his authoritarian leanings, the 39-year-old president went so far as to barge into Parliament in 2020, then dominated by opposition parties, along with police and military personnel armed to the teeth to put pressure on MPs.

After the dismissal of the magistrates, the American Vice-President Kamala Harris, the head of European Union diplomacy Josep Borrell, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) have all called for respect for the rule of law and the separation of executive, legislative and judicial powers.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres did the same, stressing the need to preserve democratic progress since the peace accords that ended the civil war in 1992.

© 2021 AFP