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

Jul 31, 2012 | News

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.

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