9F: The Return of The Rifles

In 2020, President Nayib Bukele stormed the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador flanked by heavily armed soldiers and police officers. While Salvadorans watched in shock a flagrant attack on legislative autonomy, one year later, and having experienced the first months of COVID-19, most people had forgotten about an incursion dubbed as the biggest attempt against democracy since the end of the Salvadoran Civil War.

As the Political Editor of El Diario de Hoy (EDH), I liaised with the Editorial Director at Revista Factum, and we co-directed the first docu-series about this day, when rifles returned to our political scene after almost three decades of being silenced.

This documentary gave voice to journalists covering the worst attempt on democracy to date, legal and political experts who explained the risks of these abuses of power, and to political leaders who were caught in the middle of a growing power grab.

This documentary, released in four different episodes and then as a single piece simultaneously by both outlets, amassed tens of thousands of views and sparked a conversation on why guns should not belong in democratic politics. It would seem obvious, but in an El Salvador eager to find a messianic leader, it was not.