Trump’s envoy, who is close to “the most wonderful dictator in the world”

Soon after assuming his post in El Salvador, US Ambassador Ronald Johnson formed an unusually close relationship with the country’s president.

President Trump nominated Mr. Johnson in 2019 as his ambassador in the country shortly after the White House announced the war on the Al Salvador gangs, including MS-13.

The relationship between Mr. Johnson and the President of El Salvadori, Nayeb Bokil, was so close to the extent that she was concerned about some officials. Spreading the two photo On the social media of their families, weekends are spent together and tweets highlighting. “Personal friendship“

Seven cases and former officials said this bond remained firm even in 2020 when the Al -Salvaduri president was secretly accused of local gangs. Mr. Johnson defended him and publicly rejected a message from American Republican Congress members raising concerns about the claim.

After that, without a clear reason, an employee of the American embassy was sent an investigation into the possible government relations with gangs to the home early.

It seems that the actions of the ambassador contradict the interests of the Trump administration, who argued with three current and former US officials who worked directly with Mr. Johnson. The officials said it seemed more focused on protecting a foreign leader, compared to the dismantling of the Silvadori criminal organizations there and within the United States.

Mr. Johnson has now been used again by President Trump, this time to be the American ambassador to Mexico. It was confirmed on Wednesday that the Senate voted 49-46.

In an e -mail, Mr. Johnson described his relationship with Mr. Bukele as “friendly”, which is less than the bond proposed by leaflets like one showing them to eat the crabs together, and wearing giant smiles.

Mr. Johnson also said he was committed to dismantling Al Salvadori gangs. He said: “The dismantling of the vicious MS-13 gang, and other al-Salvadorian gangs, began during my state and continues today under the leadership of President Trump.”

The White House did not respond to the request for comment, but it is clear that Mr. Trump was supporting enough performance of Mr. Johnson in El Salvador to present a new and more important job.

As a veteran army and a CIA officer, Mr. Johnson had a long career from Latin America to Asia, but his period of work in El Salvador, from September 2019 to January 2021, was his only diplomatic position.

Mexico is a much greater task, and a major American commercial partner, and Mr. Johnson will reach one of the most repeated chapters in the country’s relations with the United States.

Mr. Trump threatened to send the forces to the Mexican lands to destroy the country’s drug gangs, which His administration was recently appointed As terrorist organizations. The President of Mexico warns that any unilateral American military action will be a violation of sovereignty.

Mr. Johnson’s experience with secret CIA operations may be the reason that he was chosen for the ambassador, who tell him, to defend a policy he knows well.

“His experience is a green install, the CIA officer in Latin America and other places means that he knows issues, the security security, especially terrorism,” said Mick Mulro, a prominent Pentagon official in the Trump administration and a friend of Mr. Johnson.

However, during his time in El Salvador, two of the American embassy employees and two great American diplomats said they warned Mr. Johnson that he and his wife were approaching Mr. Boucille, but the ambassador emptied these concerns. Even Mr. Johnson told his colleagues that he was the godfather of the daughter of Mr. Bokali the Great, according to former diplomats.

Mr. Johnson denied receiving such warnings and that he was the godfather of the daughter of Mr. Bokil.

Mr. Bokil A. National Award For Mr. Johnson just before leaving as an ambassador, who is still the highest honor for El Salvador and only gave him twice.

While the cultivation of relationships is part of the job of diplomats, they are usually installed from forging personal relationships with politicians in the countries that serve, out of concern that these ties can be used to manipulate them.

Eric told. Olson, a Central America analyst: “We need our ambassadors closely with the heads of state, but we need to ensure that they serve the interest of the American people first.”

Mr. Johnson also clashed with his employees about his wife’s involvement, Alina Johnson, in diplomatic affairs, according to three US officials.

The ambassador was sometimes presenting Mrs. Johnson as a “participant” in the official meetings, mixing Al -Salvaduri officials, according to officials at the American embassy and a local businessman who met them. Mr. Johnson sometimes rejected the official translator of the embassy to be his wife, who was born in the Cuban birth, translated his official meetings, according to two employees of the embassy. They added that his wife told the embassy employees that it is weighing in the Al -Salvaduri legislative affairs with Mr. Bokil.

Mr. Johnson denied these allegations and said that his wife “is well aware of the role of the couple” in his response to the New York Times.

In 2020, Mr. Boucley was accused by El Salvaduri media of the collusion with the country’s gangs, and he agreed to give the best privileges and treatment to imprisoned gang members, such as visits of prostitutes and mobile phones. On the other hand, the report said that the gangs will reduce the murders and provide their support to the Mr. Bokali party in the upcoming elections.

Such negotiations would violate Al -Salvaduri laws, which have classified gangs as terrorist organizations and prevent politicians from negotiating with them. When Mr. Bukele became president in 2019, he pledged that he would go firmly on the gangs, like a leader before.

The investigation of El Faro challenged Mr. Bukele’s harsh message.

It also drew the attention of six members of the Republican Congress, who wrote a huge message to the President of El Salvadori, saying they were “disturbed by reports that the El Salvador government could be the legitimacy of MS-13”.

Al -Sayyid refused the message of the letter National TVSaying the representatives of the United States, who signed it, “They do not represent 5 percent or 3 percent of Congress.” Mr. Johnson, Mr. Bokali, repeated, making sure that the message had signed by a “small part” of Congress.

Soon after, the Prosecutor of Salvador raided the prison office, seized the hard drives, wrote the registry and CCTV clips, according to Media reports at that time. The pressure was dependent on Mr. Bokil because it seemed that Al -Salvadori and American prosecutors were preparing separate indictment regulations to try his government, according to two American officials.

This is when an American diplomat was sent in the allegations of a secret deal with gangs suddenly to the United States, according to US officials and El Salvadori.

When he landed in Washington, the diplomat was told that both the Salvadorran government and its president, Mr. Johnson, wanted him outside the country, according to three people who extracted the diplomat upon his return.

“Given what we know about the nature of the Bukele administration and its transactions with the gangs, to send someone to the home in the midst of their work in achieving such a disturbed,” said Mark Verstine, who has been working under many American departments since the 1990s.

Last month in the Senate Committee hearingMr. Johnson said that the American official who is investigating the administration’s relationship with the gangs was rejected because he was suffering from “unauthorized meetings” with journalists, but he provided a few details. Mr. Johnson denied that he had any relationship with the decision and said he was “postponed to his boss” about whether the diplomat would be sent to the house, without a situation.

In his response to the Times, Mr. Johnson said that he “did not refuse or punish the employees of the American embassy.”

But three diplomats chiefs felt annoyed because he was sent to the house early, according to the people they spoke with at that time.

US officials said that the overthrow of the American diplomat sent the cold through both the American embassy and the Salvadian investigation unit, which was investigating the allegations of government collusion with the gangs.

After that, it seemed that the government of Mr. Bokali hinders its efforts to dismantle Al -Salvadori gangs. In November 2021, the government secretly launched the Supreme MS-13 leader of the prison, despite the request to hand over the United States, according to the detention of the Ministry of Justice that was reviewed by the Times.

The government of Mr. Bokil did not answer the questions of this story, but previously denied gang links.

Officials are wondering why Mr. Johnson was a defender of Mr. Bokali.

Some claim that Mr. Johnson’s rule was deviant with friendship. Others refer to the success of Mr. Bukele in reducing murders via El Salvador, which was called “the world of killing in the world” before the 45 percent of the killings decreased from 2019 to 2020.

Others still refer to Mr. Bokil Dealing with the first Trump administration To demand migrants in Central America, they travel via El Salvador to search for a shelter there instead of the United States, signed weeks after the arrival of Mr. Johnson. According to two former US officials, the Ambassador regularly informed the embassy employees not to follow any projects that might disturb Mr. Bukele and endanger the agreement, which he said was an important bilateral achievement.

The term of Mr. Johnson ended in his capacity as an ambassador in January 2021, when President Biden led the constitutional oath. The following month, Mr. Bokley’s party won a majority in Congress and the Silvadorian Investigation Unit quickly in gang negotiations. This affected a separate investigation into the Ministry of Justice, according to former US officials.

However, in December of that year, The US Treasury Department imposed on it Two senior officials, after their own investigations, concluded that they had organized secret agreements with gang leaders.

After a few months, It seems that any agreement between gangs and the government is collapsingWhich led to a murder in the country’s capital, which left dozens of people.

The government quickly imposed a state of emergency, which is still standing today, which mobilizes the police and the military forces Make collective arrests.

Although he no longer occupies any general position, Mr. Johnson continued to defend Mr. Bokley, even when Mr. Bokil began referring to himself As “the most wonderful dictator”.

Mr. Johnson ascended Support for him during his re -election last year, According to the friend of Mr. Johnson and an American official. This included the recruitment of prominent Republicans such as Donald Trump Junior to attend the opening. (Legal scholars say Mr. Undertaker He violated the constitution of his country By running again).

Last month, the Trump administration sent migrants to El Salvador as part of a new deal to prepare a suspect in Conzueli and members of the Salvadori gang in Al Salvador’s huge prison. As part of the agreement, Mr. Bukele pressure Washington To return MS-13 leaders in the American nursery to El Salvador, although only one has not been sent only one yet.

“If the United States sends MS-13 leaders to El Salvador, it will be a disaster for the ongoing investigations into the Ministry of Justice in the gangs and the deals they concluded with the government of the agent,” said Mr. Olson, the analyst. “Bukele has every interest in ensuring that their information is not used in US court cases or prosecutions and will close it and throw the key.”

Gabriel Labrador She contributed to the reports from San Salvador. Alain Delaquérière contributed to the search.