I never imagined in my wildest dreams that one day the President of El Salvador would be lecturing America on how to do freedom. But here we are, and he is completely and totally right. America is quickly losing its status as a beacon of freedom around the world.
Here is the translation of his speech:
How is the world falling so fast? They say El Salvador is swimming against the current, because while El Salvador became safer, the world became more insecure. While the Salvadoran people became more optimistic, most people in the modern world are becoming increasingly pessimistic. And yes, they are right.
The world has become divided, depressed, anxious, hostile, and hopeless. And it has done so at an unprecedented speed. Today, the free world is no longer free.
This is not an exaggeration. Tragically, we see undeniable evidence of this decay every day. New threats of war continue.
When the free world became free, it was thanks to its principles of free speech, equality before the law, unity, and respect for private property. But once a nation abandons the principles that make it free, it is only a matter of time before it loses its freedom entirely. The consequences are unfolding before our very eyes.
We can see them. In some cities of the so-called first world, stores need to lock up their products behind glass doors to prevent theft. And I’m not even talking about expensive products, but simple things like a bar of chocolate or a razor.
In other cities, the streets no longer belong to the people, but have fallen into the hands of homelessness, gangs, organized crime, and drugs. You cannot claim to be part of the free world if your people are not even free to walk the streets without fear of being harassed, robbed, or killed. We are also witnessing, in real time, the erosion of freedom of speech.
Just a decade ago, the West was the bastion of free speech, and now it is being lectured by those it once denounced. The world’s largest social media platforms have been forced to censor their users at the request of their governments. Citizens in Western countries have been arrested for sharing posts on social media.
Ruling parties have attempted to ban their political opposition. These are not accusations or conspiracy theories; they are proven and widely documented facts. You cannot win the respect of the people without respecting the people.
This didn’t even start recently, but we notice it more now because it has accelerated in recent years, and this acceleration means we are approaching a grim tipping point. We are facing a new dark age of humanity. As Salvadorans, we recognize these symptoms of decay when we see them, because we have lived through them all.
We experienced the stages of our nation’s downfall one by one, and we are seeing those same stages once again, but this time on a global scale. We cannot, nor do we want to, tell other countries what they must do. Each country must make its own decisions and do what is best for its people.
We can only offer a word of warning from a friend who has gone through a dark time and fought the battle of its life to come out of it. We cannot change the course of the world. El Salvador is too small a country.
In fact, we are the smallest country in the entire American continent. This is much bigger than us, and in fact, it is bigger than any nation. We cannot prevent the dark times ahead, but what we can do is become a small refuge in the storm that is coming and hold on to hope.
In El Salvador, we don’t imprison our opposition, we don’t censor opinions, we don’t confiscate the property of those who think differently, and we don’t arrest people for expressing their ideas. In El Salvador, your freedom of speech, as well as your private property, will always be protected. In El Salvador, we prioritize the safety of our honest citizens over the comfort of criminals.
Some say we have imprisoned thousands, but the reality is that we have freed millions. Now it is the good people who live freely, without fear, with their freedoms and human rights fully respected.
