Posted on 09/16/2021 8:30:16 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Wednesday’s march was the first major protest against Bukele since he took office in 2019. It took place on El Salvador’s bicentennial.
Proponents of the bitcoin law argue that it will help the 70 percent of the country’s citizens who don’t have bank accounts access financial services.
They also say citizens living abroad who want to send money back to their families will be able to use bitcoin to avoid pricey money transfer services. About a quarter of El Salvador’s citizens live in the US and last year, they sent home more than $6 billion in remittances, Bukele has previously said.
But critics say that adopting bitcoin is a flashy ploy by Bukele’s party to distract from the country’s severe economic issues.
“Bitcoin was a very big economic decision, and it was done totally illogically, sent to congress and passed the same day,” opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz told Bloomberg. “We are going through a profound fiscal crisis with high cost of living and unemployment and the government’s response, instead of serious economic policy, is to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.”
The protesters — who organizers estimated numbered about 4,500 — were also marching against what they said were power grabs by Bukele.
In May, Bukele’s party fired five judges on the constitutional panel of the country’s supreme court and filled their spots with friendlier replacements. Shortly afterward, the court tossed aside what had long been interpreted as a constitutional ban on consecutive presidential terms, setting the stage for Bukele to potentially seek re-election in 2024.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
1/4 of the population lives in the US?
How about founding a colony of conservative Anglos there?
It is an interesting experiment, but one which will be a failure by design.
There is a lot of money and control at stake here, and there is no possible way El Salvador as a whole can be a winner.
There are so many players here I cannot even guess who might ultimately win, or how the spoils will be divided.
Mow the US Fedgov can’t shut nitcoin down, without destroying a nation full of brown people. The fed will be pissed! They hate crypto. Can’t inflate it at will. Can’t create more out of thin air and give to their buddy’s hedge fund. And can’t track it, not easily.
Major move. Pass the popcorn.
Spelchek aint be wurkin
Looks to me like the US is the official piggy bank of another dirt bag country.
It’s a great idea. Already angel investors are putting cash in BTC-releated startups in El Salvador.
Tax free...
The mexicans send back about 20-times that amount of untaxed dollars each year...
Life is great when you can be on welfare and, yet, send billions back to the shithole you came from...
That’s a high percentage. Biden is working on making it 100%
“Thousands protest in El Salvador after bitcoin made official currency”
even Wampum would probably be a better “official” currency ...
That would be MS-13 gang bangers and MS-13 profits, respectively.
About a quarter of El Salvador’s citizens live in the US and last year, they sent home more than $6 billion in remittances.
Those people are taking jobs from Americans.
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