Lawmakers threaten to cut aid to El Salvador over Supreme Court showdown

By Julian Pecquet - 07/17/12 03:25 PM ET

The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate's western hemisphere panel on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to cut U.S. aid to El Salvador if the ruling leftist party goes through with its plans to replace judges on the country's Supreme Court.

After the high court ruled that the appointment of new judges ahead of legislative elections in May was unconstitutional, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and its allies appealed to the Central American Court of Justice, which legal experts say doesn't have that authority. That court, which is controlled by leftist Nicaragua, upheld the appointees, creating a constitutional crisis with two sets of competing judges.

“We urge the Obama administration to engage the highest levels of the Salvadoran government to gain a quick resolution to the serious constitutional crisis,” Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a joint statement.

“The administration must be clear in its engagement that if concrete measures to restore the constitutional and democratic order in El Salvador are not soon implemented, the United States will have no choice but to consider a variety of bilateral actions that would reflect this lack of a democratic framework. These options would include immediately suspending any further consideration of a second Millennium Challenge Corporation compact, review and denial of U.S. visas for individuals participating in or facilitating the continuation of the existing unconstitutional order, and the immediate termination of any U.S. technical assistance through said individuals or institutions under the Partnership for Growth.”

El Salvador was ravaged by civil war between the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and the U.S.-backed military government between 1980 and 1992. The United States signed a $461-million, five-year Millennium Challenge Corporation compact with the impoverished country in 2006, which is up for renewal after its completion in September.