*El Salvador’s legislative assembly has declared a six-month national emergency in response to the El Niño climate phenomenon, due to the threat that droughts pose to the agricultural sector and food security. The assembly, which is dominated by President
Nayib Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas (NI) party, approved the proposal with 59 votes in favour and one against.
Christian Guevara, NI’s leader in the legislature, said that
“we can’t wait until harvests are lost or families are having difficulties before we start to act”. During the state of emergency, the agriculture ministry will be tasked with food security and grain storage, the defence ministry will coordinate the logistics of humanitarian assistance, and the foreign ministry will seek international support.
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