SAN SALVADOR.- He President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, celebrated his victory in the presidential and legislative elections last Sunday in his country, confronting his critics by ensuring that The Savior “has broken all the records” of the world’s democracies.
In his Sunday night speech to thousands of supporters, Bukele said El Salvador had not known democracy until now, although he acknowledged that his vision of that ideal is unconventional.
“Not only have we won the presidency with more than 85% of the votes, but we have won the Legislative Assembly with at least 58 of 60 deputies,” he stated. “The opposition was pulverized,” said.
Yesterday, Monday, a group of no more than 50 women protested in the middle of the capital’s street against the president’s re-election. The video of the demonstration was shared by himself Watch it on their social networks to show the magnitude of the protests against them.
Bukele said he had pulverized the opposition for winning almost the entire Congress. “It would be the first time that a single party exists in a country in a democratic system,” said Bukele, adding that “the opposition was pulverized.”
None of the five candidates, including the leftist Farabundo Martí Front (FMLN), Manuel Flores, and the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena), Joel Sánchez, achieved more than 7%.
Bukele highlighted his “war” on the gangs, which led him to convert El Salvador from being from the most dangerous countries in the world to the “safest in the Western Hemisphere.”
“El Salvador had metastases, but we performed surgery, we are undergoing radiotherapy, and we are going to come out healthy without the gang cancer,” said the re-elected president.
Bukele confronts critics who call him a “dictator” by describing himself as the “coolest dictator in the world.” He predicted that his party, Nuevas Ideas, will increase its majority in Congress, to the extent that the voting records are scrutinized.
If he manages to increase his seats in Parliament, Bukele will be able to continue with his controversial campaign against gangs and with a constitutional reform to remain in office.
Criticisms of Bukele
Although thousands of people celebrated the victory, others in El Salvador say the Central American nation is heading down a dangerous path that could undermine democracy and shake the rest of the region.
“There is no step back,” said Eduardo Escobar, lawyer and director of the nongovernmental organization Acción Ciudadana. “This election means the consolidation of an authoritarian government model in El Salvador, which is ratified by the people,” he said.
Organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have denounced arbitrary arrests, torture and deaths in prison. Furthermore, these organizations maintain that some 7,000 innocent people were freed, but many remain imprisoned.
However, many Salvadorans support the president because his government significantly reduced violence.
Escobar, of the Citizen Action organization, said Bukele’s ability to advance his agenda depends largely on his control in Congress. The “state of exception,” which has given the president enormous popularity, is approved month after month by the legislators who have controlled Congress since 2021.
Like other critics, Escobar said Bukele could reform the Constitution if he wins enough seats in Congress, opening the possibility of seeking a new term.
Source: EDITORIAL / With information from Semana.com / AP
