Mexico City – El Salvador’s President Najib Bukele has begun his second term as the country’s leader with 85% of the vote. The outspoken leader has attracted global attention for his tough stance and actions against the country’s notorious gangs, as well as his significant reduction in the murder rate.
President Bukele’s war on gangs has drawn criticism from the United Nations, NGOs and the Biden administration for alleged human rights abuses and political interference in the judiciary, but his outside-the-box thinking has produced some highly impressive results, turning the country from the world’s murder capital to one of the safest in the Americas, according to Salvadoran officials, with only Canada having a lower rate. Reuters previously reported..
The country National Civil PoliceThe year 2023 was the safest year in El Salvador’s history, with a total of 154 murders and a murder rate of 2:24 per 1,000 inhabitants, but 94.8% of murder cases were solved.
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El Salvador President Najib Bukele and First Lady Gabriela Roberta Rodriguez wave from a balcony after being sworn in for the president’s second term, Saturday, June 1, 2024, in San Salvador, El Salvador. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez) (P Photo/Salvador Melendez)
His war on gangs, which included building a 40,000-capacity maximum security prison and arresting more than 70,000 gang members, has contributed to a decline in crime rates, but human rights groups have criticized his policies, arguing that many of those arrested are innocent people rather than gang members.
Before the election, Bukele drew the ire of “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who had questioned U.S. relations with El Salvador, urging the State Department to review relations with the Central American country and claiming that Bukele was a “threat to democracy.” Bukele responded on X, telling Omar that he was “honored to take your attack” and that he would have been very worried if she had supported him in the election.
The 42-year-old Mayor Bukele’s practical programs have had a huge impact on the Salvadoran people since his time as mayor. He opened free clinics and significantly improved security in the municipality. As a spokesman, he was very good at communicating all his actions and important events.
He has consistently positioned himself as an “anti-establishment” politician and has a very subversive way of speaking, which has connected him to many people who perceive his way of doing things as different.
In this photo provided by the Salvadoran Presidential Press Office, inmates identified by authorities as gang members are transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Center, a prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 15, 2023. (Salvadoran Presidential Press Office, via Associated Press, File)
“If there’s a country that serves as a good example of how to turn a society dominated by violence into a beacon of hope, it’s El Salvador,” Yossi Abadi, a prominent Israeli entrepreneur and investor with deep ties to the region, said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“El Salvador was once the world’s most violent country, with nearly 110 murders per 100,000 people, a disastrous crippling rate for education and economic development. But under President Bukele’s administration, the country has made an unprecedented leap to become the safest country in the Western Hemisphere, with murder rates plummeting from 110 to 2.3, making it safer than the United States and Canada,” claimed Abadi, who also serves as El Salvador’s honorary consul in Israel.
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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – May 20, 2013: An MS-13 gang member gestures with a devil’s head emblem in one of three “gang cages” at Quezaltepeque Police Station in San Salvador, El Salvador. These overcrowded 12 x 15 cages were designed as cells to hold common criminals and two rival gangs for 72 hours, but many members have been incarcerated for more than a year. (Giles Clark/Getty Images)
“With its ongoing ‘war on gangs’, Najib Bukele’s government in El Salvador has made the country safer, which is likely the main source of his popularity. Bukele’s propaganda, combined with a highly sophisticated state-run communications apparatus with an emphasis on social media, overwhelmingly dominates the political discourse,” Johnny Wright Sol, a former Salvadoran opposition lawmaker, told Fox News Digital.
“But this seeming safety comes at a high cost to our democracy. While El Salvador may still appear to be a democratic republic on the surface, it has a Congress that only serves the interests of the president and a Supreme Court staffed with justices who are quick to overturn precedent and reinterpret the text of the constitution to allow the president to be re-elected. The executive branch is staffed with leaders and their families who, in effect, wield power above our laws. Even if Bitcoin becomes legal tender, this would not be a new experiment; it is simply a return to our tragic authoritarian past,” Wright Sol charged.
While the Biden administration initially distanced itself from Bukele and reportedly declined to meet with him at the White House in 2021, relations appear to be improving. A high-level delegation led by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas attended the presidential inauguration last week.
Supporters of El Salvador’s President Najib Bukele line up outside the National Palace ahead of his presidential inauguration in San Salvador, El Salvador, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Photo by The Associated Press/Salvador Melendez) (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)
Immigration from Central American countries to the United States has fallen by 60 percent, and illegal immigration has become a major issue in the November presidential election. The Associated Press reported. “Bukele’s hardline style of governance has given way to more pressing concerns related to immigration, a central issue in this year’s U.S. presidential election.”
“They realized that what he’s doing is effective,” Damian Merlo, a U.S. adviser to President Bukele who is registered to lobby on behalf of the Salvadoran government, told The Associated Press. “If the U.S. wants to seriously address the root causes of migration, President Bukele is the person who has actually done it.”
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Experts say President Bukele was so successful in restoring law and order in El Salvador because he attacked two problems that were crumbling: territorial control of the police, which did not exist because the gangs had control of the territory, and the judiciary. Most businesses had to pay extortion money. People did not report crimes or extortion because they were afraid. As president and in control of the National Assembly, he authorized a state of emergency, built prisons in record time, and sent thousands of gang members to prison.
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR – MARCH 3: Salvadoran President Najib Bukele casts his vote in a ballot box during the Municipal Elections (PARLACEN) in San Salvador, El Salvador on March 3, 2024. (Photo by APHOTOGRAFIA/Getty Images) (Photo by APHOTOGRAFIA/Getty Images)
“Just think about it,” Abadi told Fox News Digital, “In the 15 years before President Bukele took office, there was only one day without a murder. Only one day in 15 years! During President Bukele’s first term, there were more than 600 days without such violence. In my opinion, President Bukele deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing true peace to his people. That peace will foster economic growth, tourism, innovation and education. True peace is being able to walk the streets of San Salvador at night without fear of being shot, kidnapped or tortured by criminals or terrorists.”
“The newfound security under Bukele’s leadership has created a surge in confidence that leads to economic growth. Security brings trust, trust brings opportunity, and opportunity leads to investment and development. President Bukele’s success was born from his willingness to stand up to criticism. International organizations continue to criticize him, but they are no different in failing to give hope to a country drowning in violence for decades. Their ‘solutions’ have failed. Today, thanks to Bukele, the people of El Salvador can live without fear of death wherever they are. Children can dream. Women can walk freely in the streets,” he said.
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In this photo taken on February 9, 2020, soldiers guard the Legislative Assembly in San Salvador. Supporters of El Salvador’s President Najib Bukele gather outside the parliament to pressure lawmakers to approve a loan to invest in security. El Salvador’s President Najib Bukele on Sunday gave Congress a one-week ultimatum to approve loans to equip security forces and fight criminal gangs. It is the first time soldiers have entered the parliament to provide security since the civil war in the early 1990s. (Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images)
Finally, Abadi noted the impact Bukele’s actions have had in the region: “It’s really amazing how, outside of El Salvador, Najib Bukele’s name has become synonymous with a courageous president, a president of change. Across Latin America, people say, ‘We need Bukele,’ but what they’re really expressing is a desire for a leader who will challenge the status quo, who will break the mold, who will go forward fearlessly, who will speak up and achieve the impossible.”
Fox News’ Peter Aitken, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
