SAN SALVADOR.- The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, began a second term this Saturday with almost absolute power and practically without opposition after obtaining a disputed re-election in February. From now on he will face a new period with the challenge of maintaining security in the country – the axis of his high popularity – and achieving the economic prosperity he promised.
“All governments in the world recognize this government, despite what some opponents say”said Bukele as he began his speech from the balcony of the National Palace, accompanied by his wife and eldest daughter.
“Freedom is one of the things that human beings long for most, and our country, after a long time, has freedom. We achieved the unimaginable, not with our strength or our intelligence, but only with the glory and wisdom of God. The miracles that we have seen in this country are not few. If God so wishes, many more will come”, he continued.
Using an analogy with medicine, Bukele assured that “more than 30 years ago, gang cancer appeared, which became the most urgent problem to solve. No government could combat it, what’s more, the medicine that the governments gave only made the disease worse (…) Together we got rid of the cancer of the gangs,” despite having had to take “bitter medicine,” he said.
“International experts and organizations came here to tell us that this was not the way to solve the gang problem, that it had to be solved in another way. But You bravely decided not to listen to them and unconditionally defend the decisions that were being made.. With the help of God, the efforts of the Salvadoran people and the government, we achieved results that not even we ourselves would have dreamed of,” said the president.
“On February 4th You reaffirmed that this is the path you want for El Salvador so that it can move forward and change forever,” he said in front of hundreds of followers. The president indicated that “from now on we have an enormous task: that of protecting our legacy like a lion, the greatest legacy that a people and a government, working hand in hand, will leave for their future”.
“Salvadoran society is still sick, but it no longer has cancer,” Bukele said, stating that the focus of his second term will be on facing the economic crisis. “Just as we made this country safe, we will make this country prosperous,” he said.
Bukele, who indicated that “the opposition is insignificant”told Salvadorans to “do not listen to voices that try to poison people’s minds when we are building something good for the people” and assured, again with an analogy, that “Now all other diseases are missing, but you have to listen to the doctor and follow the prescription to the letter.”
The president asked his followers to raise their hands, swear and repeat out loud: “unconditionally defend our national project by following each of the steps to the letter, without complaining, asking for the wisdom of God, so that our country will be rewarded again with another miracle, and we swear never to listen to the enemies of the people.”
Becoming one of the most popular political leaders in Latin America for his controversial war against gangs and with high acceptance in his country, Bukele won re-election in February despite provisions of the Central American country’s Constitution that prohibited consecutive terms. The judges of the Supreme Court appointed by the Legislative Assembly, with a pro-government majority, enabled his candidacy.
Bukele, 42, took the oath in a solemn ceremony in the historic National Palace, in the historic center of San Salvador, whose square was attended by hundreds of supporters and where international leaders such as Javier Milei, the king Philip VI of Spain and the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, among others. He also attended Donald Trump Jr., son of the former US president.
This controversial former publicist undertakes another five-year term, until 2029, after pulverize the opposition and obtain a historic 85% of votes in the February elections, where almost the entire Congress also won (54 of 60 seats, to which three deputies from allied parties are added).
Regular on social networks where he laughs at those who call him a “dictator”, he has the rest of the state powers in his favor, including magistrates who allowed him seek re-election and overcome the Magna Carta. The Supreme Court, packed with judges selected by Bukele’s allies in Congress, ruled in 2021 that Bukele could seek his second term.
The United States, which in 2021 condemned the decision of the Salvadoran Supreme Court to enable immediate presidential re-election despite the fact that the Constitution prohibits it, sent a delegation led by Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, who met privately with the Salvadoran leader.
Mayorkas reaffirmed “the shared commitment of the United States and El Salvador to address key issues of mutual concern.”
In this new period of government, he will have even more power because the deputies recently approved a reform that will make it easier for him to make constitutional changes, including, according to analysts, enable indefinite reelection.
“Moved with alarming speed in eliminating essential checks and balances for a democracy, which allowed him, among other things, his re-election (…). It is difficult to think that Bukele himself is going to reverse his authoritarian measures,” said Tamara Taraciuk, from the Inter-American Dialogue analysis center.
In a Latin America plagued by criminal violence, Bukele is the most popular president, according to a regional survey, thanks to his “iron fist” policies against gangs, which several rulers, such as Daniel Noboa and Xiomara Castro, president of Honduras, they have tried to emulate. Both attended the investiture, as did President Santiago Peña (Paraguay) and Rodrigo Chaves (Costa Rica).
Bukele claims to have healed the country from the “cancer” of gangson which he declared “war” and built a megaprison: since March 2022, El Salvador has been living under a state of emergency that leaves 80,000 detained without a court order.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International denounce deaths, torture and arbitrary detentions. Almost 8,000 have been released, thousands because they are innocent. You pay the cost of security “the unjustly detained population”summarizes the coordinator of the Human Rights Commission, Miguel Montenegro.
For Bukele, who came to power in 2019 with 53% of the vote, his recent overwhelming victory shows that Salvadorans want to continue under the emergency regime.
After defeating the gangs, experts believe that the honeymoon could end due to financial concerns.
”Security is better, we are no longer afraid to go out (now) one hopes that there will be more work, better living conditions. “Everything is expensive,” said Sandra Escobar, 27, a cashier at a cafe in the capital.
The country faces a public debt of 30 billion dollars, 29% of its 6.5 million inhabitants are poor and many continue to emigrate to the United States looking for work.
The 3 million Salvadorans who live abroad send remittances worth 8 billion dollars annually (24% of GDP). They are “the float” without which “we would have sunk a long time ago,” notes economist Carlos Acevedo.
In an attempt to revitalize the dollarized economy dependent on remittances, in 2021 Bukele made El Salvador the first country in the world where bitcoin is legal tender. But in everyday life it practically does not circulate.
”It will seek to continue building the new image of the country as a safe destination for tourism and investment,” said Gustavo Flores-Macías, professor at Cornell University in New York.
Bukele is singled out by his critics for not accounting for the million-dollar expenses on megaprojects with media impact and on their communication machinery.
Ramón Villalta, director of the NGO Social Initiative for Democracy, considers “greater transparency”, “fight against corruption” and “independence of the powers of the State” key.
Agencies AFP, AP and Reuters
