Nayib Bukele had a great time. The President of El Salvador took a mass bath on the presidential balcony this Sunday after his overwhelming victory in the elections and spent the following hours sharing on social networks the congratulatory messages that came to him from all parts of the world. Bukele, 42, has become a global phenomenon for deactivating gangs and broadcasting it live on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok. This has earned him the nickname “Millennial President,” an image he likes to cultivate. Five years ago, when he won the elections for the first time, no one could have imagined that he would become an all-powerful president, ruling under an emergency regime, a radical measure with which he let the army take to the streets of the prisons with tattooed young people and pacify the neighborhoods that were in the hands of the gangs for decades. Now he has extended his mandate again until 2029, thereby destroying the opposition that had been reduced to rubble. Power has six letters: Bukele.
The truth is that he had a peaceful election night without any emotions. The polls gave him an overwhelming majority, and that's exactly what happened. He raised some suspicions when he announced the results at the Supreme Electoral Court, but when the counting of ballots began, it was confirmed that El Salvador had placed itself in his hands. With a 70% count this Monday, it had received 1.6 million votes, eight times more than the two following parties, FMLN – the traditional left – and Arena – the traditional right. With the same strength, his Nuevas Ideas party won in the Legislative Assembly, where it is expected to have 58 of the 60 deputies. Bukele said it was the first time that the one-party figure would be established “in a democracy.”
If these elections were a referendum on his policies, he more than won them. It has already announced that, given the good results it has achieved, it will continue with the emergency regime, despite criticism from human rights organizations who consider that there have been many arbitrary arrests and from some international institutions that are concerned have shown about what they consider an autocratic current. At this point, many are wondering what their next steps will be. In the last legislative session he faced a meeting that was in the hands of the opposition and he entered it with the armed forces and a crowd feverishly waiting for him at the door. The images were shocking. He took over as speaker of the assembly and said: “Now I think it is very clear who is in control of the situation.” He then closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. And he prayed.
After a few general elections, he took control of the chamber in the middle of his term as president. He dismissed the members of the Constitutional Chamber, appointed appropriate lawyers and dismissed the previous Attorney General. The path was clear. He introduced the emergency regime, which was renewed 24 times. However, Bukele has failed to reduce poverty and economic indicators are not very encouraging. He attributes this to the fact that the country is recovering from a shock and that with the decrease in violence comes a decrease in extortion and other illegal businesses, which have had a positive impact on the country's GDP. Analysts believe that revitalizing the labor market will be one of their main tasks. The security that now prevails can improve tourism, attract international investment and immigrants who have historically lived in the United States.
Numerous international executives congratulated the winner. Some did it with ulterior motives. The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, also congratulated him, but at the same time, which seemed not accidental, added that he hoped that “good governance and inclusive economic prosperity” will continue to be a priority, the guarantees of a fair trial and the Human rights.” Bukele has an ambivalent relationship with Washington. Reacting angrily to comments pouring in about his alleged authoritarian drift, he turned to China, which has financed the construction of a spectacular national library with a modernist feel that lights up at night on the San Salvador horizon. The president defends that the policies the United States and Europe tried to implement years ago to reduce violence have failed and have only increased organized crime. Here, he often repeats, neither NGOs nor the media nor foreign institutions are responsible. He is congratulated for taking the helm using “a Salvadoran recipe.”
The aim was nothing other than to completely dismantle the gangs or at least reduce them to a minimum through a wave of mass arrests. Many were held in Cecot, a prison built from the ground up to house suspected terrorists, where gang members from the two main gangs, Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18, appear submissive and appear to be in good sanitary conditions. Some mixed with others, what was previously a utopia. It is reminiscent of American prisons. Nowadays, YouTubers close to Bukelism have resorted to it, showing inmates in silence, shaved to the core, still in their cells like birds on a branch. These videos show them doing gymnastics and receiving therapy from what appears to be a psychologist or priest. If they are moved, wear shackles on their hands and feet. Salvadorans breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that they were being oppressed and not carrying out terror on the streets. Many of them recognize that there have been a few violations of judicial guarantees and that there are innocent detainees, but in their opinion the benefits have been greater than the costs. This view of things prevails even among relatives who have inmates there and with whom they hardly have any contact. The Bukele effect absorbed everything. His power today is immense. The era of the unity party and the unity leader in El Salvador is born.
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