{"id":6407,"date":"2026-05-02T09:36:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/who-is-nayib-bukele-el-salvadors-coolest-dictator\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T09:36:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:36:23","slug":"who-is-nayib-bukele-el-salvadors-coolest-dictator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/who-is-nayib-bukele-el-salvadors-coolest-dictator\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Nayib Bukele? El Salvador\u2019s \u2018coolest dictator\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On Friday, March 25, 2022, hundreds of cellphones in the small, Central American nation of El Salvador glowed with the same text message: \u201cAdelante\u201d\u00a0(\u201cgo ahead\u201d).<\/p>\n

The heavily tattooed gangsters of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) had their order. They went on a rampage, gunning down 62 people across the nation on Saturday, the bloodiest<\/a> day in El Salvador since the 1980s civil war. By Sunday, 87 lay dead.<\/p>\n

The killing spree was calculated. One victim was deliberately dumped on the road leading to Surf City, a tourist development part of President Nayib Bukele\u2019s efforts to position El Salvador as a tropical paradise for holidaymakers and tech entrepreneurs. The gangsters wanted to send Bukele a message: this is what happens if you push us.<\/p>\n

Bukele\u2019s response was swift. As parliament granted his request for a state of emergency to rein in gang violence, all constitutional rights were suspended. Suspected gang members, including children<\/a>, were detained in prison indefinitely. Soldiers and law enforcement manned checkpoints, stopping buses and demanding male passengers get out and lift their shirts to check for gang tattoos.<\/p>\n

More than 10,000 alleged gang affiliates were rounded up in just over two weeks. By 2026, some 1.9 percent of the population, or one in 50 Salvadorans, was being held in confinement \u2013 the highest imprisonment rate in the world, prompting serious concern about human rights violations. One legal study found that the mass arrests may have led to crimes against humanity. By Bukele\u2019s own admission, thousands of innocent civilians have been caught in the dragnet. The state of emergency<\/a> is now in its fourth year.<\/p>\n

Many Salvadorans, however, could not be happier.<\/p>\n

An opinion poll in January suggested Bukele\u2019s approval rating was 92 percent. In just a few years, El Salvador has gone from being the country with the highest murder rate in the Western Hemisphere to being the safest. Many no longer fear walking in the streets at night or accidentally straying into the wrong neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say, these international organisations, that he is not giving these gangsters their human rights, that he is not feeding them pupusas [tortillas],\u201d said a businessman standing in San Salvador\u2019s Cuscatlan park \u2013 once a derelict hotspot for muggings, now a symbol of the capital\u2019s regeneration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say we are living in a dictatorship. But it was a dictatorship we were living in before, under the gangs. Now we go to church each week to thank God for the liberty we have now. If this is a dictatorship, sign me up!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bukele\u2019s popularity extends beyond his home. Throughout Latin America,\u00a0from Mexico\u00a0to Chile, citizens fed up with lawlessness are demanding their own Bukele. But there are signs that, besides organised crime, journalists and civil society members too have been arrested, forced into exile or intimidated into silence by Bukele\u2019s government, under whom presidential term limits have been abolished.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow he can be re-elected as many times as he wants, and people are being told that if another government comes in, all the gangs will be released and the country will go back to the way it was, and that\u2019s why Bukele must remain,\u201d said Samuel Ramirez of the Movement of Victims of the Regime (MOVIR), which aids the victims of arbitrary arrests.<\/p>\n

\"Nayib
Nayib Bukele\u2019s informal, social media\u2013driven style contrasts with the state of emergency that has seen tens of thousands jailed [File: Salvador Melendez\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While opponents accuse him of tyranny, Bukele, 44, presents a polished, even playful public persona, eschewing a formal suit and tie for a back-to-front baseball cap and a bomber jacket.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like a teenager who\u2019s always on his phone, constantly scrolling through tweets and jumping from one social network to another; he\u2019s not a sensible guy who studies, reads, prepares, or is interested in understanding the country\u2019s problems and finding solutions,\u201d Bertha de Leon, a high-profile lawyer working on cases of violence against women, told Al Jazeera. She was Bukele\u2019s lawyer for about five years, but now is one of the president\u2019s harshest critics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn El Salvador, there\u2019s no politics, no real government plan, no state policy, nothing. It\u2019s just an impulsive guy who makes decisions on a whim.\u201d<\/p>\n

While El Salvador becomes one of the world\u2019s most extreme police states, does the self-described \u201cworld\u2019s coolest dictator\u201d plan to reign forever?<\/p>\n

The \u2018class terrorist\u2019<\/h2>\n

Nayib Bukele was born in the capital, San Salvador, on July 24, 1981, during the Salvadoran Civil War. A period of turmoil in the 1970s ended in a coup d\u2019etat bringing a far-right military government into power. When San Salvador archbishop Oscar Romero<\/a>, who stood up for the poor and denounced the ruling government\u2019s abuses from the pulpit, was shot dead in 1980 while celebrating mass, the left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) announced its uprising from the mountains and jungles. The ensuing civil war<\/a> claimed 75,000 lives, the vast majority at the hands of the military and death squads slaughtering suspected rebel sympathisers among villagers.<\/p>\n

Nayib Bukele grew up privileged, in a wealthy family unaffected by the war. From his mother, Olga Marina Ortez, he has three younger brothers: Karim, and twins Yusef and Ibrajim. But his father, Armando Bukele Kattan, was a polygamist, and Bukele has another six half-siblings. Armando was a prosperous businessman of Palestinian Christian origin who converted to Islam and opened the country\u2019s first mosque.<\/p>\n

Descendants of immigrants from the early 20th century, Palestinian Salvadorans endured a lot of prejudice. Racist laws during the military dictatorship of the 1930s barred them, along with others of Middle Eastern or Asian origin, from opening businesses, even if they were Salvadoran citizens. Bukele\u2019s father and uncles were sympathetic to the FMLN, even hosting rebel commanders at their homes. Armando Bukele was close friends with FMLN\u2019s cofounder Schafik Handal, who, too, was of Palestinian descent.<\/p>\n

\"Members
Commanders of the FMLN, including Schafik H\u00e1ndal (L), are sworn in by Archbishop Arturo Rivera y Damas in San Salvador in 1992 as the group becomes a political party, on September, 2, 1992 [Luis Romero\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The war ended in 1992, and the FMLN became a legitimate political party alongside the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), founded by a notorious death squad chief.<\/p>\n

As a teenager, Bukele attended the Panamerican School in San Salvador \u2013 a small, private, bilingual English-Spanish school for upper-middle-class families.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a pretty normal kid, nothing special to highlight, neither good nor bad,\u201d remembered Oscar Picardo, the editor of the newspaper El Diario de Hoy, who was Bukele\u2019s teacher in 1994.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough he had a group of friends that today work next to him within the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow pupils remembered him as talkative and always cracking jokes, always making his classmates laugh at his impression of cartoon character Mr Magoo. His ambition, or perhaps need for recognition, was already apparent in his final year of high school when he ran for class president. His classmates were bored by the idea, leaving him as the sole candidate.<\/p>\n

Because of their Arab background, the Bukeles were stopped by airport security upon returning from a family trip shortly after the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa. Following the experience, Bukele called himself the \u201cclass terrorist\u201d in his yearbook profile.<\/p>\n

In 1999, Bukele enrolled in law school at the Jesuit-run Central American University, but dropped out several months later to work at Brand Nolck Publicidad, his family\u2019s PR firm. In about 2001, he began managing a nightclub named Mario\u2019s, which at the time had a sleazy reputation \u2013 its waiters were suspected of serving drugs to customers. Eventually, he bought the club himself and renamed it Code. In 2003, the young businessman met the ballet dancer and psychology student Gabriela Roberta Rodriguez Perezalonso. They married in 2014.<\/p>\n

Building the Bukele brand<\/h2>\n

In 2011, 29-year-old Bukele put aside the family business and entered politics. Why, exactly, is unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got up from my comfortable couch to do something for the country,\u201d he said in a 2012 televised debate, without elaborating further.<\/p>\n

Despite his own political tendencies, Armando warned him against entering politics, saying he could end up wasting a lot of time and money only to be cast aside. Bukele steamed ahead regardless, jumping into the mayoral race for Nuevo Cuscatlan, a town on the green, hilly outskirts of San Salvador. Bukele easily secured the nomination for the FMLN, which was also a client of the family PR business, while his family\u2019s wealth enabled him to self-finance the campaign. The FMLN had nothing to lose by letting an outsider run on their behalf with their own money in an ARENA stronghold.<\/p>\n

While campaigning as a leftist, promising progressive taxes, better healthcare, public services and infrastructure investment as part of the FMLN, Bukele distanced himself from them. Instead of the traditional red and white party colours, his campaign posters had his name in white against a blue background. He told advisers this was to avoid alienating conservatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m of the post-war generation, a generation that has new ideas,\u201d he told a TV interviewer at the time.<\/p>\n

Bukele managed to gain the endorsement of a relative of former ARENA President Tony Saca, swinging the conservative vote in his favour and pushing him over the victory margin in 2012 by 2 percent of the vote. Even before taking office, he had LED streetlights installed in Nuevo Cuscatlan, convincing residents he was using his personal wealth for good.<\/p>\n

\"Salvadorans
Salvadorans petitioned to legalise the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) in 1992 \u2014 the party Nayib Bukele later sought to distance himself from [File: Luis Romero\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As mayor, Bukele opened a library, community centre and a 24-hour clinic. As he cut the ribbon, he uttered what later became his 2019 presidential campaign slogan: \u201cThere\u2019s enough money when no one steals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Except there wasn\u2019t enough money: by 2014, the town\u2019s debt had grown by 320 percent. This exemplified Bukele\u2019s model of governance: just plough ahead with projects and worry about the budget or red tape later. Still, his projects played well in the media, and the mayor became extremely popular. Bukele maintained a high-profile social media presence. He always looked sleek in his videos: wearing slacks, shiny shoes, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and a thick layer of gel in his hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always very media-savvy,\u201d de Leon, who initially connected with Bukele over social media in 2015, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe promoted a campaign about completing a project every day, for example \u2026 Successful advertising campaigns were paid for with state funds, even though they don\u2019t reflect reality at all. So I\u2019d say it was poor management, but in terms of propaganda, it was good, and that\u2019s precisely what garnered him the support to become president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaving his mark on Nuevo Cuscatlan, Bukele had the old mayoral coat of arms replaced with a new emblem: a white N in a circle against a blue background \u2013 an N for the town\u2019s name, but also an N for Nayib. He was building his own brand, independent of any party, and openly criticised the FMLN, adding to his popularity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel disappointed in the government,\u201d he said of the once-revolutionary party in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the most right wing in all of Central America; it is not a left-wing government.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, Bukele identified as part of the \u201cradical left\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want radical changes in El Salvador, where the law of the jungle should no longer prevail,\u201d he told an interviewer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn today\u2019s world, there are radicals like me who want changes without having to wait so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the FMLN noticed his success and encouraged him to run for mayor of San Salvador, which was about to become one of the most dangerous cities on the planet.<\/p>\n

Applegate<\/h2>\n

During the 2015 San Salvador mayoral race, Bukele largely ignored the FMLN (repeating the same strategy that won him his earlier posting) and instead relied on friends and family like his brother Karim, who was seen whispering in his ear during commercial breaks in the 2015 mayoral debate. In a public address, Bukele acknowledged Karim\u2019s advice, describing him as \u201csomeone I trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family friends told El Faro \u2013 Central America\u2019s first online newspaper, founded in El Salvador \u2013 that while Nayib is quick-witted, Karim is more thoughtful and analytical and helps shape government policy.<\/p>\n

FMLN leader Fabio Castillo, who supported Bukele\u2019s bid for mayor, described the brothers\u2019 influence in an interview with El Diario de Hoy: \u201cHis father [who passed away in 2015] was a brilliant and upright man, influenced the president a great deal, but he\u2019s dead now \u2026 The only one who can influence him is his brother Karim, who is smarter than the president. But he has a flaw \u2014 he gets the president all wound up and excited about too many things.\u201d<\/p>\n

This assessment of Bukele as someone who jumps from idea to idea was shared by de Leon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, he can be quite a scattered person,\u201d she reflected.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t focus on a specific topic and rambles a lot \u2026 and easily gets distracted watching content on his phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Norman
Norman Quijano (R), a conservative ARENA figure and one-time political rival to Nayib Bukele, addresses supporters after the 2014 presidential runoff, on March 9, 2014 [Salvador Melendez\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bukele\u2019s opponent in the mayoral race, Norman Quijano, was an old-school ARENA anti-communist. When a TV journalist pressed Quijano to describe his fellow contender, the veteran politician dismissed him as being \u201ctoo young\u201d.<\/p>\n

Within hours, Karim called a meeting of the campaign team. Just as Nayib did in high school, the Bukele brothers turned the negativity around. \u201cYou\u2019re too young\u201d became the unofficial campaign slogan: hundreds of T-shirts bearing the logo were handed out through the city, while the hashtag #You\u2019reTooYoung flooded social media. Bukele won more than half the vote.<\/p>\n

As in his previous post, Bukele loved unveiling grand projects such as 100% Illuminado: installing lamps on every street in San Salvador. But his probably most talked-about project was the Mercado Cuscatlan in the capital\u2019s neglected downtown, an extravagant four-storey complex containing a library, restaurants, rooftop bar, free Wi-Fi and two children\u2019s play areas that was inaugurated in 2016. As before, Bukele tended to ignore bureaucracy such as zoning laws and budget approvals, holding one-on-one meetings with businessmen without including the rest of the council. The property was rented at $96,000 per month, twice the market rate, and by 2023, the mayor\u2019s office owed $5m\u00a0in unpaid rent.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, El Salvador found itself in the throes of another type of war.<\/p>\n

El Salvador\u2019s three main gangs, or maras \u2014 MS-13, 18th Street and its splinter faction, the 18th Street Revolutionaries \u2013 were actually born on\u00a0the streets of Los Angeles. In the 1980s, tens of thousands of Salvadoran refugees poured into the city. Banding together partly to protect themselves from local thugs, some eventually turned to crime themselves. After the war was over, they were deported home, flooding violent offenders into a shattered country too ill-equipped to absorb them.<\/p>\n

El Salvador isn\u2019t a major narcotrafficking corridor, so the sort of cartels<\/a> found in nearby Mexico or Honduras don\u2019t exist. Instead, the maras\u2019 main business was extortion: shaking down businesses for protection money. Bus drivers were a favourite target, frequently murdered for driving through a gang\u2019s territory without paying a tax. The gangs controlled entire neighbourhoods through fear, and disrespecting a mara member meant death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was almost absolute control of the territory by the gangs,\u201d the director of a human rights NGO, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaily life [for people in those territories] was complicated. [Gangs] would control who could enter or leave the community. People would hear or see murders taking place in front of their homes, and in particular, girls, teenagers, women were subject to sexual violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Young
Young members of the MS-13 pose inside a juvenile detention centre near San Salvador in 2005, during a period when gangs exerted widespread control over communities [File: Luis Romero\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2012, the FMLN government tried mediating a gang truce with the help of Catholic bishops, awarding jailed kingpins with comfier cells under more relaxed conditions. The murder rate began dropping almost immediately. But less than two years later, the new government scrapped the deal and gang warfare was back with a vengeance: by 2015, El Salvador reached an astronomical murder rate of 104 per 100,000 people: 20 times worse than the US, for instance. More than 6,650 Salvadorans were murdered that year.<\/p>\n

The authorities\u2019 response was mano dura, or \u201ciron fist\u201d. Young people standing in groups of three or more could be jailed by police for \u201cillegal congregation\u201d. Caught between the police and the gangs, younger generations began fleeing the country, prompting a child refugee crisis<\/a> in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police had a strong stigma towards the communities where there were gangs, and rather than protecting them, there was always a suspicion of people living in those communities,\u201d the NGO director explained.<\/p>\n

At the time, Bukele didn\u2019t approve of the iron fist, considering it a war against the poor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a headache, what would you take? A Tylenol. But what you have isn\u2019t a Tylenol deficiency,\u201d he told an interviewer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are stressed, or you are dehydrated, or something more severe. So you take two, and then that doesn\u2019t work, and you take four, and then 10 \u2026 Here, Tylenol is the police. People want more police, and I understand. It\u2019s dangerous here \u2013 they have a headache, they want the Tylenol. But that won\u2019t solve the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he may have had conflicts of interest. In 2025, two leaders of the 18th Street Revolutionaries claimed to El Faro they\u2019d been paid a quarter of a million dollars to intimidate residents into voting for Bukele for mayor.<\/p>\n

After the story was published, the treasury ministry launched an investigation<\/a> into the newspaper for tax evasion, and its journalists were forced to flee the country after learning there were warrants being prepared for their arrest. El Faro now operates from exile in Costa Rica.<\/p>\n

Bukele\u2019s disdain for the legacy media goes back to his mayorship. When two of the nation\u2019s biggest newspapers, La Prensa Grafica and El Diario de Hoy, criticised him in 2017, five young people created spoof versions of the newspapers\u2019 websites with parody headlines, with Bukele\u2019s open encouragement. The attorney general charged the young satirists with cybercrimes and copyright violations. Bukele, fearing he too may be prosecuted, enlisted Bertha de Leon as his lawyer, marking the beginning of their working relationship.<\/p>\n

\"Nayib
Nayib Bukele takes a selfie during a news conference in San Salvador in 2019, reflecting his preference for communicating directly via social media rather than through traditional media channels [File: Moises Castillo\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another, more serious episode took place later that year. An argument erupted in a city hall meeting over building permits, ending with Bukele throwing an apple at a councilwoman.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake this apple home, you witch!\u201d he snapped.<\/p>\n

Bukele hired de Leon to represent him in court, but his accuser failed to appear, and the case was dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s characterised by being an extremely impulsive person, and he has a really fragile ego because he can\u2019t tolerate any kind of contradictions,\u201d de Leon said.<\/p>\n

The FMLN expelled Bukele over Applegate. Not long afterwards, he announced he was forming his own party: New Ideas.<\/p>\n

De Leon noted Bukele\u2019s ideological shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis discourse was progressive left wing. For example, he spoke about the rights of the LGBT community. He met with them, he took pictures. He talked about women\u2019s rights, too. Well, in the end, it was all just a campaign issue. In practice \u2026 he clearly has no ideology. One minute he\u2019s wearing a red shirt, the next he\u2019s wearing an orange one, and he doesn\u2019t care,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, his style of governing is far right. I mean, he\u2019s even talked about gender ideology, he\u2019s banned inclusive language, he clearly has extremely sexist policies. All the progress that had been made \u2013 for example, on health, sexual and reproductive health for girls and women \u2013 all of that has been lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other things, Bukele has upheld El Salvador\u2019s strict abortion ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cBukele\u2019s policy is about convenience: it\u2019s not an ideology in terms of principles or comprehensive public policy, it\u2019s more of a question of what is convenient for him at that moment,\u201d added the NGO director.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s \u2018coolest dictator\u2019<\/h2>\n

With the FMLN out of the picture, the Bukele brothers took on an even more central role in Nayib\u2019s campaign. Karim served as campaign manager, while Yusuf supervised key polling stations in the capital.<\/p>\n

Bukele was elected president with more than half of the vote in February 2019. He was only 37 years old. To celebrate, Latin America\u2019s youngest head of state-elect gathered with supporters at a plaza in downtown San Salvador, blasting Coldplay\u2019s Viva la Vida through loudspeakers.<\/p>\n

\"Nayib
Bukele and his wife, Gabriela Rodr\u00edguez de Bukele, wave during his inauguration in San Salvador on June 1, 2019, after his election as one of Latin America\u2019s youngest leaders [Salvador Melendez\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few months later, on June 1, came his inauguration at the historical Gerardo Barrios Plaza. Spectators loudly booed every other lawmaker present, while Bukele was cheered. With his heavily pregnant wife at his side, he gave a speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are expecting our first baby daughter. Her name will be Layla. And for her and for everyone\u2019s children, we must make a better country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bukele appointed a cabinet staffed chiefly by friends, family and business associates. His brother Ibrajim confirmed to El Faro he\u2019d personally interviewed 270 prospective officials. But his closest circle consists of his brothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it\u2019s true that they don\u2019t have formal positions in the state, to hide the nepotism a little, but all the brothers make important and transcendental decisions for the citizens of El Salvador,\u201d said de Leon.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstitutions have been distributed: one brother controls one institution, one controls another \u2026 I would say Karim Bukele is the one who is really pulling the strings, and Bukele is more of a puppet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, his ascent on social media continued. During his first week in office, he gained one million Twitter followers. Shortly after assuming office, Bukele snapped a selfie while addressing the United Nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ll just bear with me a second,\u201d he grinned, looking towards his phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve me, many more people will see that selfie when I share it than will listen to this speech \u2013 I hope I took a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February 2020, events took a darker turn when lawmakers refused to approve Bukele\u2019s $109m national security budget, citing a lack of transparency over how the funds would be spent. Bukele supporters gathered outside the National Assembly, spurred by their president\u2019s call for an insurrection if the government disobeyed the will of the people. A convoy of vehicles drove up, and Bukele, dressed in a business suit with no tie, stepped out from one of the cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait here,\u201d he told his followers, before striding inside, followed by armed soldiers clad in combat fatigues. Bukele took a seat while the soldiers assumed positions throughout the hall with automatic weapons at the ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s clear who\u2019s in control of the situation,\u201d he said, addressing the shocked lawmakers through a microphone, before turning his palms to his face and appearing to pray. He then stood up and left, together with the troops.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked God,\u201d he told his supporters outside, \u201cand God said to me, \u2018Patience.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bukele has always been ambiguous about his spiritual beliefs, saying he \u201crespects all religions\u201d. A month-and-a-half later, he admitted in an interview with Puerto Rican rapper Residente that he indeed deployed soldiers to intimidate legislators.<\/p>\n

For de Leon, this was the breaking point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the cordial and trusting relationship we had while I was his lawyer began to erode after he was elected president,\u201d said de Leon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tried to give him my opinion because at first, I thought he was a well-intentioned but immature, impulsive man. I was speaking in good faith and I wanted to offer advice as much as possible. But his responses were always like, \u2018Well, don\u2019t be a spoilsport.\u2019 So the February 2020 takeover of the assembly was the final straw.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d been disagreeing for a while, and he\u2019d clearly tell me no, or he\u2019d just leave me on read. But the criticism I made on Twitter when he took over the assembly with the military really hurt him because that was clearly the last time we communicated. He said he\u2019d never forgive me for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nayib
Bukele votes in San Salvador in 2021, amid strict pandemic controls introduced by his government [File: Salvador Melendez\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While most of the world imposed strict measures during the coronavirus pandemic, El Salvador was exceptional: anyone breaching quarantine was detained in \u201ccontainment centres\u201d (de facto prisons) indefinitely. When the Supreme Court twice declared such measures unconstitutional, Bukele simply ignored them, joking, \u201cIf I really were a dictator, I would have [the judges] all shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next year, the entire Supreme Court was replaced with appointees selected by Bukele\u2019s party, New Ideas, which now enjoyed a supermajority in parliament. The new judges let Bukele stand for re-election, even though the president was constitutionally forbidden from serving two consecutive terms. After an American diplomat warned of \u201ca decline in democracy,\u201d Bukele changed his Twitter bio to read \u201cthe coolest dictator in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bukele largely eschewed legacy media, instead preferring to sit down with YouTubers and podcasters with millions of subscribers, while blocking the likes of El Faro from attending his news conferences. Their earlier coverage of him had been less than flattering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve found that, for the most part, journalism often functions as propaganda,\u201d he told Time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the rise of social media, it\u2019s a way to reach the population directly without going through the press filter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foreign influencers, including right-wing Americans, have flocked to El Salvador, promoting Bukele to their millions of followers. But the president\u2019s popularity may not be entirely organic. For example, when the hashtag #BukeleDictador (\u201cBukele dictator\u201d) began trending on social media during the coronavirus pandemic, it was quickly surpassed by #QueBonitaDictadura (\u201cwhat a beautiful dictatorship\u201d), posted by accounts that appeared so chronically online that Crisis Group researchers concluded they were almost certainly bots.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin City<\/h2>\n

Perhaps most illustrative of Bukele\u2019s unusual, cyber-savvy vision was his experiment with Bitcoin: attempting to make El Salvador the first nation on Earth to accept cryptocurrency as legal tender.<\/p>\n

He asked a young American tech entrepreneur named Jack Mallers, who built an app called Lightning that allows Salvadorans abroad to transfer remittances via Bitcoin, to help draft the country\u2019s Bitcoin Law. After announcing its plans via videolink at the Bitcoin Conference in Miami in September 2021, El Salvador held a weeklong Bitcoin promotional event at the beachside resort<\/a> of Mizata.<\/p>\n

At the close of the event in November, Bukele strode out before a cheering audience as a stage erupted with a fountain of sparks. Behind him, the words EL PRESIDENTE (the president) appeared in neon-blue letters. Dressed all in white with his trademark back-to-front baseball cap, he addressed the audience, unveiling plans for a Bitcoin City: \u201cWhen Alexander the Great was conquering the world, he established Alexandrias \u2026 these Alexandrias would be like beacons of hope for the rest of the world \u2026 We should build the first Alexandria here, in El Salvador. So actually, what I was going to present to you \u2026 Bitcoin City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A Bitcoin ATM in El Zonte, El Salvador, in 2021, after the country adopted the cryptocurrency as legal tender [File: Salvador Melendez\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bitcoin City was to be a new urban centre powered by the geothermal energy of a nearby volcano, paid for by Bitcoin bonds.<\/p>\n

But the plan never took off. Many Salvadorans were angry about the Bitcoin Law, which they felt was imposed undemocratically and would lead to more economic instability, since Bitcoin\u2019s value can fluctuate wildly. Protests<\/a> and even riots broke out in San Salvador, with Bitcoin ATMs being set on fire \u2013 a rare display of disapproval for Bukele\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n

In the end, most businesses never completed a Bitcoin transaction. Those that did were mainly large corporations such as McDonald\u2019s, and Bukele\u2019s bold experiment was rolled back in early 2025. Bitcoin City is yet to be built.<\/p>\n

But Salvadorans had more immediate concerns on their minds.<\/p>\n

State of emergency<\/h2>\n

Like his predecessors, Bukele\u2019s administration initially negotiated with organised crime (although the government publicly denied it<\/a>), offering to ease prison conditions and law enforcement in exchange for reining in the killing. For a time, it worked: between 2019 and 2020, the homicide rate nearly halved, falling more than five times lower than the deadly peak of 2015.<\/p>\n

But then came the weekend bloodbath of March 2022.<\/p>\n

El Faro\u2019s reporting suggested the nationwide massacre was provoked by the arrest of a group of mob bosses while they were travelling in a government vehicle, which they considered a betrayal of their agreement.<\/p>\n

The state of emergency transformed El Salvador. As thousands of suspected gangsters \u2013 officially branded as \u201cterrorists\u201d\u00a0\u2013 were rounded up, Bukele posted gleeful commentary on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe must have been eating fries with ketchup,\u201d he wrote beside a picture of a roughed-up suspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will always be a mother of a gangster, a family member, or a friend who isn\u2019t going to like that we are cleansing that cancer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Under the ongoing state of emergency, anyone can theoretically be jailed without due process. Merely having tattoos or acting nervously was enough to be profiled as a gang member.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were completely arbitrary arrests, where people were at home, coming to or from work, and there was no crime involved,\u201d stated the NGO director.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been thousands of arrests that do not have a legal basis, and \u2026 basically the pattern is: \u2018First I catch you, and then I see what I can accuse you of.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rows
Rows of inmates arrive at the CECOT prison in 2023, a heavily guarded complex outside San Salvador [Salvadorean Presidency\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In January 2023, Bukele opened a maximum-security facility, the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT), to house the ballooning prison population. There, hundreds of prisoners are crammed together in mesh cages, with no privacy, no outside exercise, no family visits, no ventilation, and no idea when, if ever, they\u2019re getting out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can clearly say that there is a policy of systemic torture in prisons,\u201d the NGO director said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere there should be 30 people [in a cell], there are more than a hundred. People quickly get skin diseases due to the unhygienic conditions. There\u2019s a lack of food and water. And there have also been testimonies of beatings, the use of tear gas, even some of those beatings and lack of medical attention have led to death. And there are also reports of sexual assaults within prisons.\u201d<\/p>\n

With more than one in every thousand Salvadorans now behind bars, El Salvador has the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. Basic freedoms such as the right to privacy have been curbed. But the crackdown worked. Gang members have disappeared from the streets. Merchants no longer pay an extortion \u201ctax\u201d. Children now play in playgrounds and football pitches, once abandoned as no-man\u2019s land between gang territories. From 2021 to 2024, the murder rate dropped nearly tenfold to 1.9 per capita, more than twice as safe<\/a> as the US.<\/p>\n

Despite the gang menace finally being contained, there has been no easing of security: in April, a new law<\/a> was approved allowing life imprisonment for defendants as young as 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like the system we have now, it\u2019s very extreme, but I understand and accept it because it\u2019s necessary,\u201d explained a hostel owner in Santa Ana, the country\u2019s second-largest city.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though the system is very strict, I don\u2019t agree that we remove it now, because gang members will want to come back. If only 10 gang members walk freely in the streets, the problem begins again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bukele\u2019s uncompromising stance on law and order has won him allies and admiration from abroad, including from US President Donald Trump. Last year, Bukele offered Trump the use of CECOT to hold 238 Venezuelan deportees<\/a> from the United States. An American federal judge issued a restraining order deeming the deportations unlawful, but the Trump administration had already gone ahead anyway.\u00a0\u201cOopsie \u2026 Too late,\u201d\u00a0Bukele tweeted trollishly.<\/p>\n

\"Donald
Donald Trump meets Nayib Bukele at the White House in 2025, reflecting Washington\u2019s support for his hardline approach to security [File: Manuel Balce Ceneta\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But civil society, too, has felt the force of Bukele\u2019s crackdown. New laws have muzzled the media: now, journalists can be imprisoned for 10 years for reporting using underworld sources or anything else that can \u201cpanic\u201d<\/a> the public. Journalists and activists have had their phones hacked with the Pegasus spyware. And in May last year, one of Bukele\u2019s most outspoken critics, Ruth Lopez, a lawyer from El Salvador\u2019s leading human rights organisation Cristosal, was arrested for embezzlement. Among other cases, Lopez represented the Venezuelans imprisoned in CECOT without due process.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fundamental idea of Bukele is that human rights are like a moral prize only for honest people, that those who aren\u2019t honest don\u2019t have rights,\u201d said Picardo.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the organisations that work for the human rights of prisoners are stigmatised negatively.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBukele has shown he doesn\u2019t care what price he has to pay to gain power and achieve his goals,\u201d warned de Leon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if he has to violate the Constitution, if he has to imprison those who hold differing opinions, if he has to eliminate the independent press. In other words, he has no scruples, no ideology, no principles. That\u2019s why he\u2019s very, very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

After falling out with the president, Bukele\u2019s former lawyer left El Salvador in 2021 after an investigation was opened against her on a variety of criminal charges, including alleged child abuse. She now lives in Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was subjected to online attacks; they accused me of being a gang lawyer, and my clients dropped to almost zero,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always followed on a motorcycle, I even had drones flying in the courtyard of my house. But the main reason why I left was the criminal cases launched against me, so I feared for my freedom and made the decision to leave the country and ask for asylum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he is fascinated by power, and all the business he is doing with public money,\u201d concluded de Leon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think his real motivation was never to do something different and raise El Salvador out of misery, but to be the centre of attention and profit as much as possible from the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday, March 25, 2022, hundreds of cellphones in the small, Central American nation of El Salvador glowed with the same text message: \u201cAdelante\u201d\u00a0(\u201cgo ahead\u201d). The heavily tattooed gangsters of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) had their order. They went on a rampage, gunning down 62 people across the nation on Saturday, the bloodiest day in El … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}