NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) – El Salvador’s sovereign debt was pummeled in financial markets on Monday, after President Nayib Bukele’s coalition voted over the weekend to remove all the judges in the country’s highest court and followed by ousting the top prosecutor.
Bonds tumbled between 7 and 10 points each, with the 2029 and 2032 issues both down nearly 10 points each and yielding above 8% for the first time in over two months.
The vote shortly after midnight into Sunday to dismiss Attorney General Raul Melara followed a new legislative majority’s vote on Saturday night to oust all of the judges who sit in the constitutional chamber of the nation’s Supreme Court.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said on Twitter that the move by the National Assembly was concerning and that an independent judiciary was “critical to a healthy democracy – and to a strong economy.”
The Chinese Embassy in El Salvador tweeted that it took note of the situation and was “convinced that the Salvadoran people have the ability and wisdom to handle their own internal affairs.” (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Peter Cooney)
