El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele pulls out of Bitcoin 2022
EL Salvador president Nayib Bukele was forced to pull out of a planned star guest appearance at the Bitcoin 2022 summit in Miami, as ongoing troubles dominate the country’s political agenda.
The enigmatic premier had been lined up for top-billing at the massive event, but it is understood he has been forced to attend to an ongoing crisis with criminal gangs in the Central American nation.
Reports from San Salvador claim that more than 60 people have been killed in gang-related violence over the last few weeks, with thousands of arrests.
In a heartfelt open letter to the conference, Bukele did not mention the gang violence crisis, but instead said that he had to be “in another flank in the battle for freedom”.
“Hello friends of the Bitcoin conference, one of the biggest celebrations of the power of freedom, decentralisation, and human ingenuity in its fight against ignorance, centralisation, and dogma,” he wrote.
“Even though we are in an existential battle and in an inflection point of civilisation, humans need a time to gather, celebrate its victories and remember what makes us human.
“A lot has happened since the last conference and it was my sincere hope to celebrate our collective victories with another announcement, another small contribution in our fight for the liberation of money, one of the pillars of modern society.
“Alas, this could not be. I have just made the hard decision of cancelling my participation in the conference due to unforeseen circumstances in my home country that require my full time presence as President of a Nation.
“I will have to be in another flank in the battle for freedom, but my heart, and the hearts of millions in the country I was blessed to be born in, will be with you during this celebration of humanity.
“Everything happens for a reason. Hopefully we’ll be able to learn soon why this had to happen this way.”
Although swerving the harrowing reasons for remaining in El Salvador, the president did tweet an image earlier today showing the latest swathe of suspected gang members who had been arrested. He noted that it brought the total number of arrests to 7,467 in the last 12 days alone.
El Salvador last year became the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender.
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