I'm not sure I follow the argument here. Why can't the family continue to use Western Union or one of its competitors to send USD remittances if Tether bothers them and Tether would in fact be involved?
> Well, that’s easy — you can cash out your USDT balance as US dollars at a Strike-operated Bitcoin ATM!
> How many Bitcoin ATMs are there in El Salvador?
> Two. ...
I guess it's possible, but this sounds rather speculative. Why on earth would someone in the US send Tether as a remittance? Unlike bitcoin, which will be treated as legal tender, tether will enjoy no such status.
If Tether can't be converted to USD easily, it won't be sent as a remittance. There may be some initial confusion, but I suspect that word of mouth about bad experiences would spread quite quickly given what's at stake.
The author also seems to be completely discounting the possibility that over time El Salvadorans may come to prefer remittances to be sent in bitcoin and used immediately to pay for things. No need to invoke tether at all in that case.