El Salvador’s San Salvador He put an end to civil liberty. oversaw a large-scale incarceration program. It sparked condemnation from around the world for violating human rights.
However, President Nayib Bukele seems certain to win a second term in office when El Salvador holds general elections on Sunday, five years after he was originally elected.
Despite concerns regarding the constitutionality of his reelection campaign, an estimated 69.9% of people support it: El Salvadorian presidents had only ever been able to hold office for one term prior to Bukele.
Bukele, who calls himself “the world’s coolest dictator,” has accepted the criticism he receives.
According to Rafael Paz Narvaez, an academic at the University of El Salvador, “on the surface, his base appears unwaveringly loyal to him even if he implements policies that negatively impact a large number of people.”
Even so, some analysts wonder how long voters will tolerate Bukele’s authoritarian strategy given how many more people are beginning to suffer its pain.
With an estimated 2 percent of its adult population incarcerated, El Salvador has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world under Bukele.
The nation formerly had one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with 105 killings for per 100,000 people in 2015. That is an astounding number.
However, Bukele claims that his “mano dura” or “iron fist” methods are to blame for the drop in that rate, which is now the lowest in Central America at 7.8 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
