Quickly after he took up his put up in El Salvador, U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson cast an unusually shut relationship with the nation’s president.
President Trump had nominated Mr. Johnson in 2019 as his ambassador to the nation shortly after the White Home declared battle on El Salvador’s notoriously violent gangs, together with MS-13.
The connection between Mr. Johnson and the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, was shut sufficient that it apprehensive some officers. The 2 posted photos on social media of their households spending weekends collectively and tweets highlighting their “personal friendship.”
That bond remained agency even in 2020 when the Salvadoran president was accused of secretly colluding with native gangs, seven present and former officers stated. Mr. Johnson defended him and publicly dismissed a letter from U.S. Republican congressmen elevating considerations concerning the declare.
Then, with out clear cause, a U.S. Embassy workers member investigating the federal government’s potential ties to the gangs was despatched residence early.
The ambassador’s actions appeared to contradict the pursuits of the Trump administration, argued three present and former American officers who labored instantly with Mr. Johnson. He appeared extra centered on defending a overseas chief, the officers stated, than on dismantling the Salvadoran prison organizations working each there and inside america.
Now Mr. Johnson has been tapped once more by President Trump, this time to be the U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He was confirmed on Wednesday by a Senate vote of 49-46.
In an emailed response, Mr. Johnson described his relationship with Mr. Bukele as “cordial,” one thing in need of the bond advised by posts like one exhibiting them consuming crab collectively, sporting grins and big bibs.
Mr. Johnson additionally stated he was dedicated to dismantling Salvadoran gangs. “The dismantling of the vicious MS-13 gang, and different Salvadoran gangs, started throughout my tenure and it continues at the moment below the management of President Trump,” he stated.
The White Home didn’t reply to a request for remark, however clearly Mr. Trump was supportive sufficient of Mr. Johnson’s efficiency in El Salvador to supply him a brand new — and extra important — put up.
As a veteran navy and C.I.A. officer, Mr. Johnson had a protracted profession stretching from Latin America to Asia, however his stint in El Salvador, from September 2019 till January 2021, was his solely diplomatic put up.
Mexico is a a lot larger task, a key U.S. buying and selling accomplice, and Mr. Johnson will arrive there at one of many tensest chapters within the nation’s relations with america.
Mr. Trump has threatened to ship troops into Mexican territory to destroy the nation’s drug cartels, which his administration recently designated as terrorist organizations. Mexico’s president warns that any unilateral American navy motion can be a violation of sovereignty.
Mr. Johnson’s expertise with covert C.I.A. operations could also be why he was picked for the ambassadorship, these near him say, to defend a coverage he is aware of properly.
“His expertise as a Inexperienced Beret and a seasoned C.I.A. officer in Latin America and elsewhere means he is aware of the problems, on protection safety and particularly counter terrorism,” stated Mick Mulroy, a senior Pentagon official within the first Trump administration and a buddy of Mr. Johnson.
But throughout his time in El Salvador, two U.S. Embassy staffers and two senior American diplomats stated they warned Mr. Johnson that he and his spouse have been getting too near Mr. Bukele, however that the ambassador dismissed these considerations. Mr. Johnson even informed colleagues he was the godfather to Mr. Bukele’s oldest daughter, in keeping with two former diplomats.
Mr. Johnson denied receiving such warnings and that he was the godfather of Mr. Bukele’s daughter.
Mr. Bukele created a national award for Mr. Johnson simply earlier than he departed as ambassador, which stays El Salvador’s highest honor and has solely been given twice.
Whereas cultivating relationships is a part of the job for diplomats, they’re sometimes discouraged from forging private ties with politicians within the international locations the place they serve, out of a priority that these bonds may very well be used to control them.
“We want our ambassadors to have a detailed relationship with heads of state, however we want to ensure they’re serving the curiosity of the American folks first,” stated Eric L. Olson, an analyst on Central America.
Mr. Johnson additionally clashed together with his workers over the involvement of his spouse, Alina Johnson, in diplomatic affairs, in keeping with three American officers.
The ambassador would generally introduce Ms. Johnson as his “co-ambassador” in official conferences, complicated Salvadoran officers, in keeping with two U.S. Embassy officers and a neighborhood businessman who met with them. Mr. Johnson would additionally generally reject the embassy’s official translator to as a substitute have his Cuban-born spouse translate formal conferences for him, in keeping with two embassy staffers. His spouse additionally informed embassy staffers that she weighed in on Salvadoran legislative affairs with Mr. Bukele, they added.
Mr. Johnson denied these claims and stated his spouse was “properly conscious of a spouses’ function” in his response to The New York Instances.
In 2020, Mr. Bukele was accused by the Salvadoran media outlet El Faro of secretly colluding with the nation’s gangs, agreeing to provide perks and higher remedy to imprisoned gang members, like visits from prostitutes and cellphones. In trade, the report stated, the gangs would cut back homicides and provides their assist to Mr. Bukele’s get together within the coming election.
Such negotiations would violate Salvadoran legal guidelines, which labeled the gangs as terrorist organizations and prohibited politicians from negotiating with them. When Mr. Bukele turned president in 2019, he vowed he would go laborious on the gangs, like no chief earlier than.
The El Faro investigation challenged Mr. Bukele’s tough-on-crime message.
It additionally caught the eye of six Republican congressmen, who wrote a scathing letter to the Salvadoran president saying they have been “troubled by experiences that the federal government of El Salvador may very well be legitimizing MS-13.”
Mr. Bukele dismissed the letter on national television, saying the U.S. representatives who signed it “don’t characterize 5 p.c or 3 p.c of Congress.” Mr. Johnson echoed Mr. Bukele, underscoring that the letter was signed by a “small portion” of Congress.
Shortly after, El Salvador’s legal professional basic raided the bureau of prisons, seizing laborious drives, log books and CCTV footage, in keeping with media reports at the time. Strain was constructing on Mr. Bukele because it appeared Salvadoran and U.S. prosecutors have been making ready separate indictments to prosecute his authorities, in keeping with two American officers.
That’s when an American diplomat investigating allegations of a secret cope with the gangs was abruptly despatched again to america, in keeping with U.S. and Salvadoran officers.
When he landed in Washington, the diplomat was informed that each the Salvadoran authorities and his personal boss, Mr. Johnson, had wished him out of nation, in keeping with three individuals who debriefed the diplomat upon his return.
“Given what we all know concerning the nature of the Bukele administration and its dealings with the gangs, to ship somebody residence within the midst of their work on an investigation like that will be disruptive,” stated Mark Feierstein who labored below a number of American administrations for the reason that Nineties.
Final month in a Senate committee hearing, Mr. Johnson stated the U.S. official investigating the administration’s relationship with the gangs was dismissed as a result of he was having “unauthorized conferences” with journalists, however offered few particulars. Mr. Johnson denied having something to do with the choice and stated he had “deferred to his boss” on whether or not to ship the diplomat residence, with out elaborating.
In his response to The Instances, Mr. Johnson stated he had “neither dismissed or professionally penalized U.S. Embassy staffers.”
However three of the diplomat’s superiors have been upset that he was despatched residence early, in keeping with individuals who spoke with them on the time.
The ousting of the American diplomat despatched a chill by way of each the U.S. Embassy and the Salvadoran investigative unit probing allegations of presidency collusion with the gangs, American officers stated.
After that, Mr. Bukele’s authorities appeared to hinder U.S. efforts aimed toward dismantling Salvadoran gangs. In November 2021, the federal government secretly freed a prime MS-13 chief from jail, regardless of a U.S. extradition request, in keeping with a Justice Division detention order reviewed by The Instances.
Mr. Bukele’s authorities didn’t reply to questions for this story however has beforehand denied hyperlinks to the gangs.
Officers marvel why Mr. Johnson was such a defender of Mr. Bukele.
Some contend that Mr. Johnson’s judgment was skewed by friendship. Others level to Mr. Bukele’s success in reducing homicides throughout El Salvador, which had been dubbed the homicide capital of the world earlier than killings dropped 45 p.c from 2019 to 2020.
Nonetheless others level to Mr. Bukele’s deal with the first Trump administration to require Central American migrants touring by way of El Salvador to hunt refuge there as a substitute of america, signed weeks after Mr. Johnson arrived. In accordance with two former American officers, the ambassador often informed embassy staffers to not pursue any initiatives which will upset Mr. Bukele and jeopardize the settlement, which he stated was an necessary bilateral achievement.
Mr. Johnson’s tenure as ambassador led to January 2021, when President Biden was sworn in. The next month, Mr. Bukele’s get together received a majority in Congress and swiftly dissolved the Salvadoran investigative unit wanting into the gang negotiations. That affected a separate Justice Division investigation, in keeping with two former American officers.
Nonetheless, in December of that yr, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned two senior Salvadoran officers after its personal investigations concluded they’d orchestrated covert agreements with gang leaders.
A couple of months later, any agreement between the gangs and the government seemed to collapse, resulting in a killing spree within the nation’s capital that left dozens of individuals useless.
The federal government shortly imposed a state of emergency that continues to be in place at the moment, mobilizing police and the navy forces to carry out mass arrests.
Though not holding any public workplace, Mr. Johnson continued to advocate for Mr. Bukele, at the same time as Mr. Bukele began referring to himself as the world’s “coolest dictator.”
Mr. Johnson ratcheted up support for him during his re-election last year, in keeping with a buddy of Mr. Johnson and an American official. This included enlisting notable Republicans like Donald Trump Jr. to attend the inauguration. (Authorized students say Mr. Bukele violated his country’s constitution by operating once more).
Final month, the Trump administration despatched migrants to El Salvador as a part of a brand new deal to deal with suspected Venezuelan and Salvadoran gang members in El Salvador’s mega jail. As a part of the settlement, Mr. Bukele has pressed Washington to return MS-13 leaders in U.S. custody to El Salvador, although just one has been despatched again one up to now.
“If the U.S. sends again MS-13 leaders to El Salvador, it might be a catastrophe for ongoing Justice Division investigations into the gangs and the offers they struck with Bukele’s authorities,” stated Mr. Olson, the analyst. “Bukele has each curiosity in ensuring that their data isn’t utilized in U.S. court docket instances or prosecutions and he’ll lock them up and throw away the important thing.”
Gabriel Labrador contributed reporting from San Salvador. Alain Delaquérière contributed analysis.
