SAN SALVADOR — President Nayib Boucle secured a landslide victory in El Salvador’s elections on Sunday, casting aside concerns about the erosion of democracy as voters rewarded him for a fierce gang crackdown that has upended security in the Central American country.
Thousands of Mr. Boucle’s supporters, dressed in cyan blue and waving flags, gathered in San Salvador’s central square to celebrate his re-election in what the 42-year-old leader called a “referendum” on his government. Congratulations on your re-election.
Bukele declared himself the winner before the official results were announced, claiming he had received more than 85% of the votes.
According to preliminary results, Bukele won 31% of the votes counted and 83% of support.
His New Idea party is expected to win nearly all 60 seats in the legislature, strengthening its grip on the country and giving Mr. Boucle, the most powerful leader in modern El Salvador’s history, even greater influence. will give.
“All the opposition has been crushed,” Bukele told supporters as he stood with his wife on the balcony of the National Palace.
“El Salvador has gone from being the most dangerous country to being the safest country. Stay tuned to see what we do in the next five years,” Bukele added.
The New Ideas’ electoral success means Bukele can wield unprecedented powers and overhaul El Salvador’s constitution, but opponents fear it could lead to the removal of term limits. are doing.
The hugely popular Mr. Bukele has touted the success of his security strategy, which has seen authorities suspend civil liberties and arrest more than 75,000 Salvadorans without charge.
The detentions led to a sharp drop in the national homicide rate, fundamentally changing the country of 6.3 million people, once one of the most dangerous in the world.
But some analysts say mass incarceration of 1% of the population is not sustainable in the long term.
Hours earlier, a bullish Mr. Bukele held a press conference in which he said his party needed all the support it could muster to maintain its fight against gangs and continue to rebuild El Salvador.
“So if we have already overcome the metastasis that causes cancer, all that remains is for us to recover and become the people we always wanted to be,” Bukele said.
Few doubted the outcome of the election. Polls show most voters want to reward Mr. Bukele for destroying the criminal gangs that made life in El Salvador unbearable and fueled a wave of immigration to the United States.
Guadalupe Guillén, a 55-year-old shop owner, appeared at the celebration wearing a tunic and an Arab scarf, a nod to Bukele’s Palestinian family heritage.
“We celebrate and thank him and thank God for getting us out of this gang problem. We don’t want to go back to that horrible past,” Guillen said. He added that he no longer pays gangsters $300 in extortion money every two weeks.
“Democracy is not in danger because all the people voted for him,” Guillen said, reiterating the government’s position on Western concerns about authoritarian drift under Bukele.
FMLN and ARENA candidates, who were in power until 2019, are expected to win single-digit support as voters once again reject traditional parties marked by decades of violence and corruption. was.
economic hardship
Bukele, an incendiary politician who frequently quarrels with foreign leaders and commentators on social media, has pledged to eradicate gang violence and revitalize a stagnant economy, and has broken away from traditional political parties. He defeated him and took power in 2019.
He used the New Thought Party’s supermajority in the Legislative Assembly to fill the courts with supporters, overhaul state institutions, and tighten his control over key parts of the government. he also Introduction of Bitcoin It is treated as legal tender, drawing criticism from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Court last year allowed him to run for a second term, despite the country’s constitution prohibiting it. Opponents fear that Bukele will seek to follow in the footsteps of neighboring Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and rule for life.
“Everyone knows that the president’s re-election is unconstitutional, but what people want is security. They don’t care if it’s unconstitutional or not, they just want to feel safe.” said Josué Galdames, 39, a businessman and trader who supported Bukele because of his anti-gang work.
Asked by reporters on Sunday if he intended to amend the constitution to include unlimited re-election, Bukele said, “I don’t think it’s necessary to amend the constitution,” but did not directly answer a question about whether he would run. Ta. 3rd term.
In a post on X, the Chinese embassy in San Salvador congratulated Bouclet and his party on their “historic electoral victory.”
Human rights groups said El Salvador’s democracy was under attack. Bukele took these concerns to heart, at one point changing his profile on X to read “World’s Coolest Dictator.”
Bukele’s biggest challenge in his second term is the economy, with the Central American economy experiencing the slowest growth during his tenure. More than a quarter of El Salvadorans live in poverty.
Under Bukele, extreme poverty doubled and private investment slumped. His much-touted plans for Bitcoin City, a tax-free crypto haven that harnesses geothermal energy from volcanoes, haven’t gained much traction.
The IMF, which is negotiating a $1.3 billion bailout with El Salvador, described the country’s fiscal situation as “weak” in late 2023.
