Tiny El Salvador wasn’t accustomed to having a leader whose name was widely known outside its borders, but President Nayib Bukele’s political ascendancy has been all about launching himself to international stardom.
Eschewing a suit and tie for unbuttoned shirts, backwards baseball caps and aviators, he’s the millennial whose iron fist banished the gangs that had terrorized his country. This gave him folk-hero status in Latin America, and his offer to house deportees from the U.S. in his megaprison granted him global stature. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the offer an “act of extraordinary friendship.”
Through flashy videos, defiant social media posts and the adulation of the American far-right, Bukele has built a reputation as the ultimate crime fighter.
The gang who were once his allies tell a different story.
Salvadoran journalists from the investigative outlet El Faro revealed some years ago that high-ranking officials in Bukele’s istration met with gang leaders to negotiate a drop in homicides in exchange for financial benefits and control of more territory. The deal was confirmed by U.S. officials in a 2022 federal indictment against gang leaders.
When the truce fell apart that year, Bukele initiated a crackdown that swept gang but also jailed an untold number of innocent Salvadorans without due process.
Earlier this year, El Faro dropped another bombshell. One gang leader told the outlet, on video, that his criminal group had struck a deal with Bukele’s party to help him win his election as mayor of San Salvador, in 2015. Another gang member hinted to El Faro that the homicide rate started sliding downward in part because the gang did a better job hiding the bodies.
El Faro’s revelations have been a persistent headache for Bukele, but this time, the president has had enough. After The Economist cited El Faro’s report and called Bukele a “despot” in a recent opinion piece, Bukele exploded. In a speech, he said he didn’t care if the press called him “a dictator,” accusing journalists of spreading lies and playing semantics.
Bukele prefers ad hominem attacks to disputing the information that he claims is a lie. According to news reports, seven El Faro journalists fled the country after learning that the Bukele istration was preparing warrants for their arrests. Last month, the government arrested an anti-corruption lawyer from a prominent civil society group, accusing her of participating in embezzlement earlier in her career — a charge she denies.
To fully kneecap those pesky NGOs trying to hold him able, Bukele’s ers in the Salvadoran Legislature ed a law that labels groups that receive foreign funds as “foreign agents,” subjecting them to a 30% tax.
Bukele’s fist comes down on whoever stands in his way, whether they be the gangs that once were his allies, civil rights defenders or the press.
We don’t understand why Bukele lashed out at journalists for calling him a tyrant. He once called himself “the world’s coolest dictator.” And this is the man Rubio calls our friend?