Fatima Pena

A motorcycle caught fire in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador, on September 15, 2021. This event could have gone unnoticed or could have been reported as an accident. However, on a nearby street one of the largest mobilizations that has occurred in El Salvador in recent years was about to begin. Months earlier, in June of the same year, the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, suddenly announced that bitcoin would be legal tender in the country. To do this, he sent the so-called “Bitcoin Law” to the Legislative Assembly, controlled by his party. The regulations, which would have a significant impact on the Salvadoran national economy, were approved on June 7 in just five hours by the Legislative Assembly (Legislative Branch).

The law generated a wave of indignation and disapproval among the Salvadoran population, even among those who are supporters of President Bukele. Bitcoin became a symbol that unified various social sectors that took to the streets to protest in a large demonstration on national independence day, September 15. Civil society, ranchers, medical unions, judges, lawyers, students, among others, called on the population to protest against bitcoin, but also against the presidential re-election that the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (judicial body ) endorsed the same month of September 2021.

The hashtag #El15Marchamos went viral on social networks, which was trending on Twitter for several days. This entire movement of discontent against President Bukele’s government generated a lot of expectation and perhaps even fear within the Executive itself. Until that moment, such large and diverse protest activity had not been recorded since the beginning of Bukele’s period.

That September 15, the media and countless Twitter accounts reported almost immediately that a group of hooded “unknown people,” supposed members of some group that was joining the peaceful protest, had set fire to the motorcycle. Hundreds of accounts on social networks and media related to the Salvadoran government did not take long to construct the adverse narrative: the Protestors were vandals, they are already causing destruction in the city. El Diario El Salvador, the Salvadoran government newspaper, reported the incident this way: “This was the moment when protesters set fire to a motorcycle that was parked on the side of the street during the march on 25 Av. Norte, in San Salvador”. The information was accompanied by two photographs of the event that showed two young people wearing “anti-bitcoin” shirts.

But, the history of violent protesters who wanted to harm the population and the government did not last long. When questioned by a television reporter, one of the hooded men answered that he belonged to a group led by “Pescadito Ruíz.” The supposed protester, in reality, meant that his group was led by Carlos “El Diablito Ruíz”, a well-known Salvadoran politician who belongs to the FMLN party (Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation). Ruíz served several terms as mayor of Soyapango, one of the most densely populated municipalities in El Salvador. In addition, he was also a deputy of the Legislative Assembly. The FMLN is one of the main opposition parties in El Salvador and was where President Nayib Bukele began his political career in 2012. Bukele was expelled from the party in 2017 and has since fiercely attacked it every time it comes before him. an opportunity.

The statement of the supposed protester began to go viral and served to disrupt the official narrative that sought to delegitimize the citizen protest. This showed that this group of protesters was, in reality, a group of infiltrators or agitators: they were not part of any organizing bloc and did not seem to know the context of the march or the reasons why so many people had mobilized. These elements were taken up by the people who participated in the protest.

As the minutes passed, more users on social networks noticed irregularities in the episode of the burning motorcycle. For example, the motorcycle had no license plates and its owner was not known. All those aspects that did not seem to make sense or did not seem credible served to indicate that the incident, rather, had been caused by groups related to the government. However, beyond dismantling with facts a narrative promoted by the ruling party, the protesters, and those who supported the mobilization through social networks, began to make humor of the “Pescadito Ruíz” episode.

Beyond the response on social networks, it is also important to note that those of us who participated in the mobilization knew how to maintain discipline to avoid falling into violent actions or provocations by infiltrated groups. For example, we noticed the motorcycle incident, but no block that participated in the march approached the area. The authorities were allowed to take control of the situation and the media to document what happened. Even many of us who participated in the mobilization denounced the fact. In this context, it is not only important to distance oneself from violent activity, but also to denounce and condemn it. Days before the march it was already clear that the government would try to delegitimize the mobilization and, therefore, we had to be more careful of our surroundings and not fall into any provocation from groups of infiltrators or the authorities themselves. Some blocks even published and disseminated a list of security measures, emphasizing avoiding provocations.

Furthermore, in this type of mobilization and in the face of these types of events that seek to delegitimize our movement, it is also necessary to learn from other people and social movements that have extensive experience in “street” activities. In these latest protest activities in El Salvador, it was these people—for example, former guerrillas or those who participated in large mobilizations such as the white marches—who took control of the security measures on the streets: blocking the passage of vehicles, opening pass the protesters in the streets, walk the march to detect infiltrators. They are the ones who know how to detect people who seek to commit violent acts. Trusting their knowledge and protecting and recognizing us among the different blocks that marched was of utmost importance to detect shock groups and avoid conflicts with the authorities.

It can be said, therefore, that the “Pescadito Ruíz” case was an event that attempted to delegitimize and dirty a peaceful mobilization. However, by not falling into provocation, it was even possible to take advantage of the infiltrators’ errors to break the official narrative.

Text published on September 29, 2023

Fatima Pena

She has a degree in Social Communication and a Master in Political Science from the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA). Currently, she works as coordination coordinator for advocacy in the Vice-Rector’s Office for Social Projection of the UCA.

Translated by Damian Vasquez