Salvadorans voted on Sunday in an election in which President Nayib Bukele achieved a landslide victory allowing him to extend his mandate until 2029thanks to the resounding success of its “war” against gangs that has turned the Central American country into one of the safest in America.
“According to our numbers, we have won the presidential election with more than 85% of the votes and a minimum of 58 to 60 deputies to the assembly. The record in the entire democratic history of the world,” Bukele wrote in X.
According to our numbers, we have won the presidential election with more than 85% of the votes and a minimum of 58 of 60 deputies in the Assembly.
The record in the entire democratic history of the world.
See you at 9pm in front of the National Palace.
God bless El Salvador.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 5, 2024
Despite having the support of eight out of 10 Salvadorans of voting age, Bukele’s security plan has raised allegations of alleged human rights violations and his participation in the elections has been questioned by the opposition and part of the community. internationally because the Constitution prohibits immediate re-election.
By becoming the first Salvadoran president to be re-elected in almost 100 years, Bukele has promised that the emergency regime will continue until the last gang member and his vice president are captured. He told Reuters this week that he will keep Bitcoin as legal tender despite low acceptance and that bukelism is a decades-long project.
“There is still a lot to do but, step by step, we will resolve entire decades of looting and abandonment,” the 42-year-old president wrote on his X account, a platform he has used to promote his achievements and attack his detractors.
“If we have We have already overcome our cancer with metastasis, which was the gangs, now we only have to recover (…) what is coming for El Salvador is a period of prosperity,” he added in a press conference after voting in San Salvador, dressed in a cyan t-shirt – like the color of his party -, jeans and a cap. white.
When asked if he planned to reform the Constitution to include indefinite reelection, Bukele said he did not believe “a constitutional reform is necessary,” but did not answer whether he would try to run for a third term..
Unlike previous elections, the colors and emblems of the opposition parties were conspicuous by their absence. The cyan of the ruling party Nuevas Ideas monopolized the scene.
Five other presidential candidates also participated in the elections, including candidates from the former leftist guerrilla Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Fmln) and the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena), who governed for 30 years until 2019.
Bukele took office in mid-2019 as the youngest president in the modern history of El Salvador.. Since then, his government managed to appease crime after arresting 1% of the country’s 6.3 million inhabitants, built several infrastructure projects – some with support from China – and is succeeding in attracting more and more tourists to the country. smallest in Central America.
Furthermore, during his mandate irregular migration to the United States has been reduced, easing the friction with Washington over the dismissal of judges and the attorney general; as well as for the alleged excesses during the state of emergency and restrictions on civil liberties.
“We cannot let the corrupt people from before have power again because then the projects that the Government is executing could not be executed,” said Víctor López, a 65-year-old construction worker.
“It is necessary to continue with the changes that are happening in our country, positive changes, we have no crime and tourism has skyrocketed,” he added.
Economic challenges
Despite his undeniable successes, analysts maintain that Bukele’s five-year term has been marked by poor economic performance and that the president will have to apply drastic – but unpopular – recipes to reverse the situation.
The Salvadoran Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown the least in the last five years among its Central American peers. Public debt has reached record levels, leading the country to a fiscal situation that specialists see as “unsustainable”; Extreme poverty has doubled and private investment, necessary to keep the country afloat, has fallen abruptly.
“The economy is going to collapse, everyone is going to regret having voted for cyan, there is going to be hunger,” said Miguel Medina, a 73-year-old retiree who voted for the FMLN.
The adoption of bitcoin as legal tender and the plans around the cryptocurrency have not taken off either.
But the president remains firm in his bet, even when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked him to “reconsider” his plans to expand the Government’s exposure to bitcoin while they negotiate a US$1.3 billion loan that would relieve the country’s coffers. Central American.
“They will repent”
Despite his undeniable successes – some of which are being replicated in other countries in the region – analysts maintain that his five-year period has been marked by poor economic performance.
The Salvadoran Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown the least in the last five years among its Central American peers. Public debt has reached record levels, leading the country to a fiscal situation that specialists see as “unsustainable”; Extreme poverty has doubled and private investment, necessary to keep the country afloat, has fallen abruptly.
“Although debt has decreased in recent years, it is still higher than pre-pandemic levels and the country’s fiscal position remains fragile”said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the end of 2023, with which El Salvador is negotiating a loan of US$1.3 billion.
On Sunday, the 6.2 million Salvadorans eligible to vote also elected deputies to the unicameral Congress. The polls gave wide favoritism to the ruling party’s candidates, which would further solidify Bukele’s power.
“The economy is going to collapse, everyone is going to regret having voted for cyan, there is going to be hunger,” said Miguel Medina, a 73-year-old retiree who voted for the FMLN.