Nayib Bukele's El Salvador: Power Consolidation and Human Rights Concerns

Bukele's Rise and Power Consolidation

• 🚀 Nayib Bukele became president of El Salvador in 2019, quickly concentrating all powers within his office.
• 🏛️ His party, Nuevas Ideas, has dominated the National Assembly since 2021, and he pushed the Supreme Court to allow him a second term, despite constitutional prohibitions.
• ⚖️ Bukele has effectively subjugated the judiciary, ensuring loyalty and control over the legal system.

Public Approval Amidst Repression

• 📈 Despite a concerning human rights record, Bukele enjoys over 80% public approval in El Salvador.
• ⚠️ Since the state of exception began in 2022, over 400 detainees have died in Salvadoran prisons under troubling circumstances.
• 🇺🇸 Bukele has also built a mega-prison to incarcerate illegal migrants expelled by the United States, whom he labels as terrorists.

The State of Exception's Dual Impact

• 🎯 The state of exception was declared to combat Mara gangs (MS13 and 18th Street), which had terrorized the population for decades.
• ✅ This policy led to an undeniable success in reducing the homicide rate, making El Salvador the country with the lowest rate on the continent.
• 🚨 However, the state of exception has become permanent, leading to thousands of arbitrary detentions and targeting critics of the regime, not just gang members.

Arbitrary Detentions and Prison Abuses

• ⛓️ El Salvador now has the highest incarceration rate globally, with one in 57 people in prison.
• 💔 Victims of arbitrary detention, like William, are held for years without investigation, trial, or communication with family, often developing severe illnesses.
• 💀 NGOs have documented hundreds of suspicious deaths in prisons, with bodies often showing signs of torture and lack of medical care, and families are frequently not informed.

Suppression of Civil Society and Media

• 🗣️ Bukele has launched attacks against the press, NGOs, and human rights organizations, accusing them of defending criminals.
• 📰 Independent journalists have faced arrest warrants for investigating alleged pacts between Bukele and Mara gangs, including electoral corruption and aiding gang leaders' escape.
• 🚫 Civil society organizations and critics of the regime face imminent threats of arrest, leading to a heavy silence due to fear of reprisals.