Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has never concealed his autocratic tendencies. He had already unabashedly referred to himself as the world’s coolest dictator, but since enjoying the firm embrace of U.S. President Donald Trump, Bukele has grown emboldened. In recent weeks, he has intensified his crackdown on critics and accelerated his efforts to suppress dissent, turning the screws on human rights organizations, journalists and civil society at large.
Bukele’s acolytes have arrested one of the country’s most prominent human rights activists, have enacted a “foreign agents” law that resembles the ones used in dictatorships like Russia and Nicaragua to weaken civil society, and have made life even more threatening for independent journalists, prompting more of them to flee into exile.
The millennial president, who became enormously popular by imposing draconian policing tactics that restored security to a country that had been plagued by brutal gang violence, quickly consolidated power after becoming president in 2019. He easily led his New Ideas party to full control of the legislature, secured an ironclad majority in the Supreme Court, and maneuvered to win a second term in office, even though the country’s constitution clearly limits presidents to a single one. Before long, he had full control of the country, steadily dismantling democratic institutions.