El Salvador’s authorities have disrupted a plot to plant bombs across the country coinciding with President Nayib Bukele’s inauguration on Saturday. The National Police attributed the plot to “veterans” of the country’s 1980-1992 civil war, referring to former leftist guerrillas. Photos posted by police showed small explosive cylinders with fuses and sacks of ammonium nitrate, seized in raids targeting gasoline stations, supermarkets, and government buildings. Some explosives were found in Guazapa, a former rebel stronghold near the capital, San Salvador.

The police blamed a group called the “Salvadoran Insurrection Brigade” and detained former congressman José Santos Melara, a leader in the FMLN party formed by former guerrillas. Melara, along with seven other suspects, was accused of financing the plot. The Block of Popular Resistance and Rebellion (BPR) condemned Melara’s arrest as political persecution and called for his release, rejecting Bukele’s presidency as unconstitutional.

Despite constitutional prohibitions, Bukele won a second term in February with significant popular support, partly due to his aggressive anti-gang measures. Critics argue that Bukele’s actions, including reforms reducing congressional seats and mass arrests in his gang crackdown, threaten El Salvador’s fragile democracy established post-civil war. Bukele’s party now holds a super majority in Congress, giving him considerable power with minimal opposition.