[STARTRIBUNE] El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele refused to meet with a visiting senior U.S. diplomat this week over what he sees as a pattern of slights from Democrats and the Biden administration, according to two aides of the Central American leader.Bukele's decision not to meet with Ricardo Zuniga, the Biden administration's envoy to the so-called Northern Triangle countries of Central America, follows a similar snub he allegedly received from U.S. officials during an unannounced trip to Washington in February.
It also comes just days after Bukele's government awarded $1.2 million lobbying contract to the State Department's former top career diplomat in a bid to improve ties with the new American president.
Zuniga traveled Wednesday to El Salvador following talks in Guatemala focused on immigration amid a surge in child
Zuniga had hoped to see Bukele before heading back to Washington on Thursday, according to a State Department front man.