[4] In early 2020, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele wanted to secure a loan of 109 million dollars from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration for law enforcement funding in the Territorial Control Plan.

[8] His plan was met by resistance from opposition parties, notably the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), as his previous policies regarding law enforcement witnessed an increased militarization of police forces.

[19] ARENA and the FMLN denounced the incident as a self-coup attempt, where a national leader or group illegally seizes more control than allowed by laws or a constitution, and called for the Organization of American States to intervene.

"[11][21] Felissa Cristales, a politician from the Nationalist Republican Alliance, stated that "No Salvadoran can be in favor of this; El Salvador is a country where democracy has cost blood.

"[2] FMLN leadership accused Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, the Police Chief of El Salvador, of ordering soldiers and officers to harass politicians and their families.

[24][25] Félix Ulloa, the Vice President of El Salvador, stated in an interview with Jorge Ramos in March 2021 that the entry of soldiers into the legislature was a "mistake" and that it was not necessary.

[11] Erika Guevara Rosas, the Director for the Americas of Amnesty International, condemned the military and the police and raised concerns of what the event could mean for the future of human rights in the country.

"[29] The crisis has been cited as an instance of democratic backsliding by several organizations and political scientists which state that it endangered the future of democracy in El Salvador.

[30][31][32][33] Both the Nationalist Republican Alliance and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front subsequently compared the entry of the soldiers to the legislative to the storming of the United States Capitol in January 2021.

[35] Bukele sending the soldiers to the Legislative Assembly, together with his later actions during the COVID-19 pandemic in El Salvador, have led many of his opponents to call him authoritarian and a dictator.