Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols ends visit to El Salvador
October 27, 2023
Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affair Brian Nichols finished his visit to El Salvador by participating in a live interview on Salvadoran TV. During his participation in the “Frente a Frente” interview, he said one of the reasons for the visit was to try to strengthen economic relations between the two countries. “The United States is El Salvador’s most important trading partner,” Nichols said.
The U.S. diplomat added that U.S. investment is growing, but that it should grow more. “We have to provide training to the workforce, more education, more market research, more opportunity…,” he added. During his visit, he also met with business leaders with whom he discussed the economic growth and investment climate in El Salvador and emphasized the interest in strengthening trade ties between the two countries and how to attract U.S. investment, which benefits both U.S. citizens and Salvadorans.
While in El Salvador, Nichols met with President Nayib Bukele and members of the government cabinet. Following his meeting with President Bukele, he said he had an excellent meeting with the President during which they discussed El Salvador’s support for the international mission in Haiti, efforts to promote foreign direct investment in El Salvador, bilateral cooperation on the rule of law, and mutual efforts to address irregular migration.
In addition, Secretary Nichols visited the Human Rights Institute at the Central American University (IDHUCA) to learn about different perspectives on the rule of law in El Salvador. During his meeting, he recognized the work of the Human Rights Institute of the Central American University (Idhuca). He added that “civil society and non-governmental organizations play an extremely important role in any democracy”.
This was the second stop of Secretary Nichols’ trip to the region. Prior to arriving in El Salvador on Wednesday, October 25, the Assistant Secretary made a two-day visit to Guatemala where he expressed U.S. support for a peaceful presidential transition process.
Speaking about his visit to Guatemala and El Salvador, the U.S. official said that the purpose of this visit was to support democratic processes, understand the reality, and give a message that democracy is the most important form of government and the will of the people of the country is key to the future.
