Nayib Bukele, "Worlds Greatest Dictator", President of El Salvador
Bukele has used the emergency state of El Salvador to suspend basic rights and leverage his position to gain as much power as possible
On January 3rd, the tiny Central American nation of El Salvador announced its violent crime statistics. The Justice and Security Minister of the country, Gustavo Villatoro, claimed the nation has the second lowest violent crime rate in the Americas behind Canada at 2.4 per 100,000 people. This statistic is very remarkable. Just 8 years ago the violent crime rate was much higher at 104 per 100,000, making it the murder capital of the world. This may seem like the work of El Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele’s hard rhetoric and unempathetic stance on criminals, but this couldn't be farther from the truth. Instead of creating a safe environment, Bukele’s party has gone behind the backs of the El Salvadorians to grab power out of this struggling nation.
Nayib Bukele, President Of El Salvador
Credit: Getty Images
I. The El Salvadorian Crackdown on Gangs
In 2019, Bukele announced his Territorial Control Plan after winning 53% of the vote and breaking his country's 2 party rule. It had 6 main portions:
Preparation- Deployment of various police officers in historic cities and put prisoners on lockdown.
Opportunity- Improve education and healthcare.
Modernization- Modern weapons, vehicles, and security forces.
Incursion- Security forces sent into high gang activity areas.
Extraction- Surround large cities and extract terrorists.
Integration- Creation of the National Department of Integration, which is supposed to address the countries’ long-term needs.
The nation has spent hundreds of millions on this plan and Bukele is enormously proud of this accomplishment. He referred to it as “the most successful security plan in the world”. The preparation, incursion, and extraction phases are all events not continuous plans. This means they are little more than publicity events and they were highly successful in that regard. Currently, Bukele is extremely popular with 85% of the public supporting him. This would be the highest in the world if it was certifiably true.
Another important part of these gang crackdowns is the judicial process by which these gangs are persecuted. Since March 27, 2022, El Salvador has been in a state of exception. In which, criminals have no rights to association and no legal counsel. The government has also been allowed to monitor any civilian they see fit. “There is no perfect work by humans … Look at the big picture. Understand what this country is doing when we have defended people and the human rights of millions of Salvadorans whose rights were being violated by criminal structures.” said Bukele’s vice president Félix Ulloa in reference to his nation being called a police state. Essentially, Ulloa believes it's ok to violate the rights of El Salvadorians because murderous gangs have also been violating their rights. By this logic, anyone can just arrest someone in El Salvador. Provided they aren't a member of a gang. Before I get any deeper into the controversial side of the Bukele presidency, it's important to mention one more aspect of the policing effort, CECOT.
Bukele’s mega prison is treated like an Olympic stadium. Both because of its size and because of the pride it's supposed to bring to the country. The Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, as it is called, puts its criminals in giant cages on metal beds with no mattress. The prison was finished at the start of 2023. Currently holding 12,500 and with a capacity of 40,000, it is by far the largest maximum-security prison in Latin America and one of the largest in the entire world.
A Look In Bukele’s Massive Maximum Security Prison
Credit: El Pais
II. Controversy
Massive mega prisons, a disregard for the rule of law, and a nation heading on the path of authoritarianism. In the words of Bukele, “we are not substituting democracy because El Salvador has never had democracy”. Troubling words from the president who called himself the “World's Coolest Dictator”. However, words shouldn't be the only determinant in the success of Bukele and El Salvador’s war on the gangs. His track record should be, though that is not much better.
The Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, also known as CECOT, is not open to the public, or the press. We have had very few looks inside this prison, but what we have seen is not pleasing. Thousands of overcrowded gang members with shaved heads and white clothes packed on tall bunk beds. These prisoners are put on display as though they are animals in a zoo. No visitation, and in diseased conditions which has allegedly led to several deaths. Bukele responded to this allegation by telling human rights groups to take prisoners to a place where their rights can be secured showing a general disregard for basic human rights.
There aren't just seasoned gang members in CECOT and El Salvador's other prisons. The nation has lowered its age of criminal responsibility. That means children as young as 12 can be detained and sent to these inhumane facilities. They don't even have to be guilty. The police have conducted several indiscriminate raids which have led to the arrest of thousands of children. The government has also kidnapped and killed hundreds of criminals without any kind of trial. Under the current state of emergency, El Salvador has embraced a policy of mass incarcerations and mass sentencing meaning even less scrutiny has been put on these cases and even more false arrests.
It has been said that as long as any government is arresting criminals, some false convictions are going to happen. Others may disagree, but a sound argument can be made. This same argument cannot be made when the government in question is locking up their political opponents. Bukele has made plans to build CECOC. This is essentially the same prison as CECOT, but instead for corruption and white-collar crimes. When trying to fight crime, it is important to manage corruption. However, Bukele has used the state of exception to monitor his political adversaries on numerous occasions. If he wanted, he could arrest all of them right now under his state of exception. I commend him for not putting them all into unsanitary inhumane prisons with no regard for the rule of law. However, I theorize that this is because he wants to make a show of it. Bukele is one for public spectacle as we have seen before. I believe he is waiting to make a show of his political adversary’s arrest, as soon as CECOC is finished. I must warn you that this is pure speculation, and if I'm wrong I will be the first to retract this theory.
The final controversy involving this government is up for contention. The US alleged that Bukele’s government has signed a secret non-aggression pact with the gangs. This pact stops the gangs from killing people in exchange for lighter sentencing. So far, they have denied these claims even though every El Salvadorian president has done something similar since 2012. This is what caused the drop in violent crime which started in the same year. When these pacts ran out, to obtain another one, the gangs indiscriminately kill random civilians until a new deal can be made. These random killings usually last a few days and is the reason we have seen random crime spikes for a random week every year since 2012. At this point, the evidence points to Bukele also signing a pact with the gangs, which would go behind the backs of the El Salvadorian people. Even though it is not 100% confirmed at this time, I wanted to include it because it can help explain how El Salvador got its violent crime rate so low. This and the fact that the government deliberately leaves out the deaths of those who take part in police-gang fights. The point is, these many controversies have plagued Bukele’s popular rule, but I question its democratic future.
The Nation Was Mobilized After Every Gang Killing Spree
Credit: DW
III. Democratic Backsliding
If you have read my other articles, you might have guessed my favorite word: populism. Bekele’s regime is a textbook example of the rise of populism and how it can be used to turn a democratic country into an authoritarian personality cult. He started out as a candidate who appeared out of nowhere in 2019, securing a victory by speaking out against crime and promising to implement sweeping reforms to end it. Using crime as a justification, he curbed civil rights throughout the country. It's important to note how he did this, because it provides a guide for other world leaders and gives everyone who isn't a world leader an example of what to look out for.
Bukele started by increasing his party's popularity throughout the country. By using the justification that he needed to continue his territorial control plan, he won re-election. He was not allowed to run for reelection for ten years as required by El Salvadorian law, but he had the supreme court change this law. First, he had the legislature pass a law which allowed judges to be dismissed over the age of 60. Then he appointed new supreme court judges who were sympathetic to his cause. It's important to note that the judges are also elected by the legislative assembly, but the party firmly stands behind Bukele.
It's only a matter of time before Bukele suspends or fakes elections and becomes another intimidating populist dictator and others are taking notice. Other politicians from across the Americas have even endorsed and tried to implement policies similar to Bukele’s. These include, but are not limited to, Sandra Torres from Guatemala and Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa. The later of which enacted a policy similar to the El Salvadorian state of emergency in May of 2023. Every part of the world experiences a time of chaos and it's difficult to stop people with negative intentions from taking advantage of them. If Bukele decides to make a commitment to pushing his government away from this path towards evil dictatorship, both in word and in action, I will hope he goes down in history as one of the few leaders whose intentions were good. Until that happens, we will just have to wait and see what happens.
Nayib Bukele, Self Proclaimed “Worlds Coolest Dictator”
Credit: El Pais
IIII. In Conclusion
Thank you for reading! If you disagree, or you just have something to say, I urge you to comment. If you liked this and my other articles, I urge you to subscribe. I'm going to put my references below so it's able to be looked through. Again, thanks for reading!
Links To My Sources:
PBS: El Salvador vice president acknowledges mistakes….
NBC: Rare look inside El Salvador's mega prison
Reuters: El Salvador's Bukele looks set for….
Amnesty International: El Salvador: President Bukele engulfs the….
Human Rights Watch: El Salvador: New Laws Threaten Judicial….
USIP: El Salvador’s Bukele: From ‘World’s Coolest Dictator’….
Foreign Policy: Why is El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele so popular….
AQ: Nayib Bukele’s Growing List of Latin American Admirers