Salvadoran Group Files Lawsuits Against President Nayib Bukele on Lack of Transparency in Bitcoin Purchases

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Cristosal, a Salvadoran nonprofit human rights organization, has filed three lawsuits related to President Nayib Bukele’s management of public funds to purchase bitcoin. The processes are being run before several national and international bodies, and call for the government to offer information on these purchases.

President Nayib Bukele Sued by Salvadoran Nonprofit Cristosal

On Nov. 17, Cristosal, a nonprofit human rights organization, announced that it has filed three different lawsuits against President Nayib Bukele, seeking to clarify the origin and transaction information of the funds used to purchase bitcoin. Ruth Lopez, an anticorruption spokesperson for the group, stated that one of the lawsuits had to do with the illegality of reforms Bukele had made to laws concerning these expenses.

Lopez explained that $750 million are managed by Bukele as part of the bitcoin trust established by the central bank of the country in an unconstitutional way, alleging that these laws allowing the president to manage the funds are void.

In the same way, the second lawsuit has to do with the lack of investigation that the Accounts Court of the Republic, the control organization, has exerted on the expenses derived from the implementation of the Bitcoin Law, including the construction of booths, acquisition of ATMs, installation of the platform, and application for the convertibility and management of bitcoin.

Lopez stated:

There is no control on the platform over the identity that buys and sells Bitcoin. Until now, all Salvadorans have are presumptions about how it works and how much has been spent.

The third action will be exerted before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and is related to the identity theft that more than 200 Salvadorans faced when delivering their data to the Chivo Wallet system.

Bitcoin Skepticism

While President Nayib Bukele announced recently that the country would be purchasing a bitcoin a day, signaling his belief in the cryptocurrency, Lopez believes the population is still skeptical about bitcoin. For her, these expenses are superfluous and don’t answer the immediate needs of the people.

On this, Lopez remarked:

The Salvadoran population does not feel identified with bitcoin, but it is also of no use to them, because it is not a population that invests, since it is barely enough for them to eat.

While some surveys show President Bukele is very popular in the country, bitcoin is a different issue. A survey conducted by the José Simeón Cañas Central American University in June revealed that more than 70% of Salvadorans consider that bitcoin had brought no benefits to them.

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