Salvadorans tried to ‘directly influence’ a U.S. election

After winning re-election to her seat in the House, Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., issued a news release making a startling accusation: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele participated in “foreign election interference” in her race.

Bukele, whose government has said it’s Torres who has been interfering in its matters, urged residents of California’s 35th District to vote against Torres in a tweet last year. In the months leading to this year’s midterm elections, legislators from Bukele’s party openly supported her opponent on social media.

“Let’s say no to Norma Torres because she has caused so much harm to El Salvador,” one of the many tweets read.

Torres told NBC News that members of Bukele’s government openly supported her opponent in rallies and social media posts, and she said she was harassed in person and online with hateful and racist messages.

The State Department considers it an attempt to influence the elections.

“Throughout our last electoral process, we noted with alarm increasingly direct attempts by some Salvadorans to directly influence certain electoral outcomes in the United States,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email. “As we have repeatedly made clear, this is unacceptable, and we have repeatedly communicated this directly to the Government of El Salvador through official diplomatic channels.

“The integrity of our elections is a vital part of our democratic processes; the will of the people must not be undermined by foreign influence,” the spokesperson said.

Asked about the legislators’ tweets against Torres, Milena Mayorga, the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S., said she couldn’t comment on their actions because they represent a different branch of the government. But she said it was Torres who interfered in El Salvador by criticizing Bukele in Salvadoran media outlets during the months leading up to the country’s February 2021 legislative elections. Torres disputes the allegation.

Bukele’s party, Nuevas Ideas, or New Ideas, and its allies went on to win the biggest congressional majority in El Salvador’s history. 

Richard Hasen, an expert in election law and professor at UCLA, said there is a difference between a foreign person’s trying to influence the outcome of an election and breaking U.S….