Nayib Bukele, President of The Savior, allowed himself to be photographed days ago with the image of a warrior. Both of his hands held a highly effective rifle that shoots down drones at long range. On the one hand, she only reinforced his image as a president who worships “firm hand” and relentless. But, by pointing towards the sky, he let the opposition know that there is no room in El Salvador for a heavenly miracle other than his perpetuation in power. The photo in which he wields that sophisticated weapon from the DroneShield company is his flag on the election campaign with a view to the elections of the February 4, 2024.
The Magna Carta from that small Central American country prohibits the consecutive re-election. Bukele considered that a popularity that arrived at 90%forged from the militarization of everyday life, gave him carte blanche to break that impregnable rule. Without much effort he managed to Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice forced an interpretation of the text so that he could be a candidate. He did nothing but mock to the Nicaraguan Daniel Ortega and, in this way, he signed up for a new race that already has him as a sure winner.
“The existence of a pre-candidacy that you do not meet the requirements for the position you are applying for and that, in addition, he holds the highest position in the Executive, without retiring, shows contempt for the rules and the level of concentration of power that has been reached in the country, without authorities capable of enforcing the Constitution and the law,” said Ruth Eleonora López, anti-corruption director of Cristosal, an organization with more than 20 years of experience defending human rights in El Salvador. In this way, Bukele will look in the mirror of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, the dictator who, in the 1930s, was both head of state and candidate.
A weakened opposition
“The electoral campaign begins with a weakened opposition and no chance of victory,” recognized the digital magazine ‘El Faro’. The four parties in a position to compete will begin their proselytizing activity with the intensity of a babbling.
They tried to form an alliance but everything remained a declaration of good and ephemeral intentions. Under this novelty, some 6.1 million Salvadorans who reside in the country and 678,000 who live abroad will be able to elect not only the president but also their parliamentary and municipal authorities.
New ideasBukele’s party, would obtain 68.4% of the votes, according to a recent survey by the Francisco Gavidia University. ‘El Faro’ reported in this regard that, in second place, with 19.1%, are the people who will abstain from voting or annul the vote, something that also benefits Bukele and his party. The opponents of the re-election are barely testimonial. ARENA, on the right, and FMLN, once on the left, currently garner 4.3% and 2.8% of the adhesions. Nuestro Tiempo has 2% and Fuerza Solidaria 1.5% of preferences.
The political benefits of the “hard hand”
“We do not follow the destiny that others had outlined for us. Today, four years after our Government, no one even dares to deny that for the first time the smallest country on the continent has taken the first big steps to achieve its dream of greatness. “El Salvador went from being the world capital of homicides to being the safest in Latin America,” he wrote. Bukele on social networks the day it was displayed with the anti-drone weapon. In 2023, the homicide rate it was of eight per 100,000 inhabitants. When he assumed the presidency it was 45 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Bukele has built his project for continuity in power on the basis of a security policy socially accepted despite the systematic complaints of human rights violationswith flagrant cases of torture and disappearances.
He exception regime It has been in force for 19 months and has put more than 70,000 people linked to the Maras in jail, the gangs associated with crime, extortion and drug trafficking that used to devastate Salvadoran cities. Of that total, 1,600 are minors. Even Joel Sánchez, the ARENA candidate, has considered the Government program an affront to freedoms and called to defend them at the polls. “I am a humanist committed to the country,” he said. The president has been so scathingly indifferent to the challenges.
“They criticized and condemned us for each of the decisions we made. Intellectuals, journalists, politicians and organizations from all over were engaged in a debate about what we were doing.” For Bukele”that debate is over“because “the decisions we made were correct.”
The regional “bukelization”
His model provokes sympathy among the hardest right that is beginning to raise its head in different countries in the region. His spokespersons observe with sympathy the architectural project that materializes the “iron fist” program: the megaprison with a capacity to lock up more of 40,000 prisoners.
The possibility of a “bukelization” of security policies is latent in some countries and in tune with a drop in the valuation of democracy, as revealed months ago by the latest survey by the Latinobarómetro corporation, carried out in 17 countries. Only 48% of the 19,205 people interviewed value institutional stability, 15 points less than 2010.