El Salvador voters are set to re-elect their current president and ousted “world’s greatest dictator” Nayib Bukele in a landslide victory after he restored his country’s crime-ridden reputation.
“The opposition will be able to achieve its true and only plan, to free the gang members and use them to return to power,” Bukele warned in a video that quickly spread on social media and news channels in El Salvador.
Bukele’s controversial tenure as leader of the Central American country looks set to continue, thanks to a constitutional court overhaul in which he replaced judges with loyalists who ruled that he can run for a second term despite a constitutional ban on re-election.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., questioned the US relationship with El Salvador and urged the US State Department to review its relationship with the Central American country, claiming that Bukele presented a “threat to democracy.”
“The people of Salvador have the right to vote in free and fair elections without fear of repression,” Omar wrote on social media platform X.
A community note on his post states that Bukele won the 2019 election with a 54% majority and his crackdown on gang violence has helped cement his massive popularity with a 91% approval rating among voters.
Bukele responded to Omar’s attack, joking that he felt “delighted” to “receive your attack,” saying he would be very worried if he supported him in the election.
Bukele came to power in 2019 and clashed with the Legislature over policies, including severe restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
His party took control of the national congress in 2021 and began to initiate sweeping changes to other branches of government and instituted new laws that would allow him to effectively fight gangs in his country.
El Salvador voters are set to re-elect their current president Nayib Bukele in a landslide victory after he restored his country’s crime-ridden reputation. AFP via Getty Images
Once known as the “murder capital” of the world, El Salvador underwent significant reforms that allowed the government to round up hundreds of alleged gang members and shove them into hastily established super-prisons.
The prison, which was built in just a few months during 2022, can hold up to 40,000 people and has thousands of military personnel guarding it.
Bukele made sure to share plenty of videos and photos of the prison and its first few thousand inmates.
Those measures, which ultimately swept away many potentially innocent men, led to a drop in homicide and crime rates the following year.
Salvadoran Justice and Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro claimed that the country recorded 154 murders in 2023, marking a 70% decrease from the previous year.
Rep. Ilhan Omar questioned US relations with El Salvador and urged the US State Department to review its relations with the Central American country, claiming that Bukele presented a “threat to democracy.” Getty Images
That would contribute to a rate of 2.4 per every 100,000 people, potentially the lowest in America, other than Canada, according to Reuters.
During an interview with Fox News Digital in May 2023, Bukele’s vice president and running mate Felix Ulloa claimed his country would “face a problem” with gang violence and urged the United States to invest in the country so it can continue to fight it. criminals.
Ulloa argued that if El Salvador and other countries could address their crime crisis, it would help alleviate the migrant crisis on the US southern border, as many of those who flee north do so to escape their crime-ridden homelands.
El Salvador’s success has boosted Bukele’s popularity to the extent that other countries, such as Honduras and the Dominican Republic, have looked to copy the model, which has raised concerns from civil rights advocates.
Ulloa admitted to The Associated Press this week that the government “made a mistake” in detaining thousands of innocent people as part of their routine sweeps, which often profile young men under fears of gang involvement.
Bukele responded to Omar’s attack, joking that he felt “delighted” to “receive your attack,” saying he would be very worried if he supported him in the election. AFP via Getty Images
Ulloa stressed that El Salvador “is not a police state” but rather “a state that provides security.”
Bukele went on to insist that if he lost the election, it would “risk” the country “going to war with gangs”.
Critics also point to other worrying developments in the legislature, such as Bukele’s efforts to reduce the number of municipalities, which could help ensure his victory and the party’s dominance in local and congressional elections in March.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
