Who Is Nayib Bukele? El Salvador’s ‘coolest dictator’
Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, has gained widespread popularity for drastically reducing gang violence through a sweeping state of emergency that led to mass arrests and the world's highest imprisonment rate. His government has suspended constitutional rights, abolished presidential term limits, and faced accusations of human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions and suppression of dissent. While many Salvadorans praise the newfound safety, critics warn of authoritarianism and the erosion of democratic institutions.
- ▪In response to a gang-led massacre in March 2022, Bukele declared a state of emergency that suspended constitutional rights and enabled mass arrests.
- ▪By 2026, approximately 1.9 percent of El Salvador’s population was imprisoned, the highest rate globally, with thousands of innocent people reportedly detained.
- ▪Bukele abolished presidential term limits, allowing indefinite re-election, and has maintained a 92 percent approval rating despite accusations of authoritarianism.
- ▪Journalists, civil society members, and opposition figures have been arrested, exiled, or silenced under Bukele’s government.
- ▪El Salvador has transformed from one of the most violent countries in the Western Hemisphere to one of the safest under Bukele’s crackdown.
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INSIDE THE MIND OFFeatures|Civil RightsWho Is Nayib Bukele? El Salvador’s ‘coolest dictator’At 44, Bukele has built the world’s highest imprisonment rate and scrapped presidential term limits. What comes next?ListenListen (35 mins)SaveClick here to share on social mediashare-nodesSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo[Muhammet Okur/Al Jazeera]By Niko VorobyovPublished On 2 May 20262 May 2026On Friday, March 25, 2022, hundreds of cellphones in the small, Central American nation of El Salvador glowed with the same text message: “Adelante” (“go ahead”).The heavily tattooed gangsters of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) had their order.
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