The incumbent Nayib Bukele has declared himself the winner of the presidential election.
Alex Peã±a / Getty Images South America
In a press conference, Bukele rejected the accusation that he was ruling his country autocratically and imprisoning innocent people en masse. “El Salvador was the murder capital of the world,” said the former advertising executive. It is now the safest country in the Western Hemisphere. The election result will clearly express the will of the Salvadorans.
The 42-year-old incumbent and former mayor of the capital San Salvador has been president since 2019 and, among other things, introduced the digital currency Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador. In the fight against the criminal gangs in the country, the so-called Maras, he declared a state of emergency in March 2022. As a result, basic rights such as freedom of assembly were restricted. More than 75,000 suspected gang members have been arrested since then, most only on suspicion and without access to lawyers. Critics warn of a further weakening of the separation of powers and democratic control under Bukele in Central America’s smallest country.
El Salvador’s constitution actually prohibits the direct re-election of the president. However, constitutional judges loyal to the government allowed Bukele to run for a second five-year term. In order to circumvent the ban, the head of state took a leave of absence for six months on December 1st – until the day of the planned inauguration on June 1st. Meanwhile, a loyal official formally took over day-to-day political affairs, meaning Bukele’s influence remained virtually unimpaired. The Congress, which is dominated by the ruling party, has also changed the rules for the distribution of seats in parliament so that the electoral law now favors the majority party when allocating mandates.