Bukele’s method of fighting gangs could well ensure his re-election

The presidential elections will take place on Sunday and the anti-gang and anti-corruption policy pursued tirelessly for four years by Nayib Bukele seems to convince the Salvadorans. Observers are concerned about the authoritarian drift.

In El Salvador, the president’s strong method made it possible to channel the violence, but at what cost? The results are there, they will undoubtedly allow Nayib Bukele to be re-elected on Sunday February 4, despite the concern of human rights organizations. The anti-gang and anti-corruption policy relentlessly pursued by the Salvadoran president for four years has not always respected the rules.

Respect for the law is not one of the concerns of Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador. He ignores individual freedoms, as well as the constitutional right that he happily twisted to be a candidate again, which Salvadoran law prohibits. Nayib Bukele therefore dismissed all the judges responsible for enforcing this law. He replaced them and obtained authorization, on the condition of leaving the presidency for six months. Since December 1, 2023, those who define themselves as “the coolest dictator in the world” therefore took a step back to prepare for his re-election.

A re-election which seems certain, that is in any case what all the polling institutes say. In all opinion surveys, Nayib Bukele receives between 70 and 80% of voting intentions. Salvadorans all seem convinced that the Bukele method of overcoming violence and corruption has largely borne fruit.

This method is summed up quite well by the young Salvadoran head of state. “Rumor has it that they want to take revenge on honest people, targeting anyone. If they do it, there won’t be a single meal left in the prisons. We’ll see if they continue their mess from now on their cells. I swear to God that they will not eat a grain of rice. And I don’t care what the international organizations say. Let them come and protect our citizens, let them come and get these bandits back.”he declared in 2021. In just four years, the country is experiencing a radical reversal in the homicide rate, which is today one of the lowest in Latin America and not a single gang on the horizon.

A method set as an example throughout Latin America

Under the presidency of Nayib Bukele, 75,000 Salvadorans were sent to prison, or 1% of the population. People sometimes incarcerated without proof, without reason, without contact with their family. A secret agreement between the government and certain gang leaders was even revealed at the heart of Nayib Bukele’s first term. All observers are concerned about the authoritarian drift assumed by the Salvadoran president.

Anything goes for the Salvadoran president and his policy is today held up as an example throughout Latin America. In Guatemala or Peru, where the mayor of Lima boasts “the Bukele miracle”. In Paraguay, the president says he was inspired by the Bukele model by sending his soldiers to bring order to the prisons. And recently in Ecuador where a state of emergency and control of the territory by the army were decreed. Daniel Noboa, the president of Ecuador, has just hired the same architects as Nayib Bukele to build mega prisons, capable of accommodating all citizens considered problematic by the authorities.