On February 4, as El Salvador held presidential elections, present president Nayib Bukele confirmed up at a polling place accompanied by audio system blasting “It’s the Finish of the World as We Know It (And I Really feel Wonderful)” by R.E.M.
The music selection was deliberate — Bukele was as soon as once more trolling critics who declare he’s steering the nation towards autocracy. For some time, his Twitter bio learn “The World’s Coolest Dictator.”
Since being elected president in 2019, Bukele has made worldwide headlines for what some have described as a millennial persona, eschewing ties and fits in favor of denims and sun shades and taking a selfie throughout his first speech to the United Nations Normal Meeting. He has famously offered El Salvador as a cryptocurrency paradise, making it the primary nation on the earth to undertake Bitcoin as authorized tender.
However Bukele’s detractors say he has used the presidency to push El Salvador away from democracy, packing the nation’s judiciary with judges sympathetic to his insurance policies and reshaping electoral legislation to make sure his political get together holds a majority within the legislature.
Throughout his almost 5 years in workplace, Bukele has declared an ongoing state of emergency, utilizing the specter of gang violence to curtail civil liberties. He very publicly stormed the legislature with the help of the navy to demand funding for his coverage priorities. And the truth that Bukele ran for reelection in any respect was unprecedented and doubtless unlawful: El Salvador’s structure explicitly bars reelection to consecutive presidential phrases. Nonetheless, he has claimed victory within the vote and few are disputing that he gained the presidency, although 60 seats in Congress are being disputed by El Salvador’s electoral physique.
Silvia Viñas is the co-host of a brand new podcast about Bukele, Bukele: El señor de Los Sueños. She says that when you outline a democracy solely because the folks having the ability to vote, El Salvador has that.
Nevertheless, democracy is about far more. If Bukele controls the whole lot with out checks to his authority, Silvia asks, is the nation’s authorities nonetheless a democracy? What follows is an tailored transcript of her dialog with Sean Rameswaram, co-host of Vox’s In the present day, Defined podcast, edited for size and readability.
Sean Rameswaram
[Bukele is] the youngest president within the historical past of El Salvador when he’s elected in 2019. A millennial president. What’s he like when he will get into workplace? Is all of it avocado toast and Instagram or what?
Silvia Viñas
He sells this picture of the younger, hip millennial president who’s totally different from the opposite presidents in Latin America. He was 37 — as you say he regarded very totally different from different presidents. He didn’t put on fits. He wore leather-based jackets, he used social media to conduct state enterprise, to fireplace authorities staff or to ask them to deal with a difficulty. When he went to the UN, he took a selfie.
When he took workplace, the Congress did their job of being a counterweight and performing checks and balances, as they need to in a democracy, as a result of he doesn’t have a majority there. And so he began a battle with lawmakers as a result of he needed them to assist finance his plan to cut back violent killings and to battle the gangs.
So Congress requested for extra particulars about how he’s going to spend the cash. And Bukele received bored with legislators delaying the whole lot, so he known as for a rare session for Sunday, February ninth, 2020.
So some legislators go, however they don’t have sufficient folks to truly perform a session to vote on the mortgage. In the meantime, Bukele marketed on social media for folks to go march to Congress. They use authorities buses pushed by navy personnel to convey folks to this gathering. And inside, whereas the legislators are ready for the session to start out, armed navy personnel present up contained in the constructing.
Legislators feared that this was a coup, with navy coming into the Congress.
Sean Rameswaram
It seems like January sixth if it labored.
Silvia Viñas
Sure, and so Bukele requested the group, will you let me enter Congress? And naturally, they are saying “Sure!”
So he entered the room the place the legislators are ready, with the navy already inside. He sat within the chair the place the president of the Congress would sit throughout a session. And he stated, “Let’s say a prayer.”
He places his arms on his head and he prayed in silence. After which he simply received up and left. It was like a present of power, exhibiting what he’s able to doing. It was a concern tactic, exhibiting that he may instigate a coup.
Sean Rameswaram
Does he discover a solution to consolidate energy after that?
Silvia Viñas
Yeah, he consolidates energy the next 12 months when his get together and allied events win a majority in Congress. So inside a number of months after profitable that election, he was capable of achieve legislative energy after which judicial energy. After that it’s like, okay, he can do something he needs. He controls the whole lot.
Sean Rameswaram
It’s my understanding that one of many causes folks again Bukele is as a result of he’s taking a stand in opposition to the gangs and gang violence in El Salvador. How does he, as president, oppose the gangs?
Silvia Viñas
You may bear in mind the photos of prisoners in Salvadoran jails with shaved heads, and not using a shirt, with their arms behind their again, all sitting very shut to 1 one other in strains? These photos went around the globe.
That was a response from President Bukele, as a result of in April 2020 there was a surge in violence and 76 homicides in 4 days. His response was to crack down on gang members in jails, and he licensed safety officers to make use of deadly power on inmates and suspects. He combined members of rival gangs in the identical cells. He was attempting to indicate that he was treating the gang members terribly as a result of they’ve executed a lot harm to our society. However then one other huge wave of violence occurs, and there are 87 murders in three days.
So Bukele requested that Congress declare a state of emergency. And this state of emergency has been renewed 22 occasions, each 30 days. We’re virtually at a two-year mark beneath a state of emergency within the title of preventing the gangs.
Sean Rameswaram
And what does the state of emergency get him by way of energy?
Silvia Viñas
It suspends fundamental rights, like proper to protection or the presumption of innocence. Extra navy on the streets and extra navy assets. The federal government to date has imprisoned over 75,000 folks — that’s greater than 1 p.c of the inhabitants.
El Salvador is the nation with the very best incarceration fee on the earth. There are millions of studies of arbitrary arrests, of abuse, of torture. However once more, that is presumably his most celebrated measure and the one which has finally made him some of the fashionable politicians within the Americas.
Sean Rameswaram
Bukele appears to have consolidated a lot energy whereas in workplace. However he’s nonetheless restricted by a constitutional time period restrict. How does he get previous that?
Silvia Viñas
The Salvadoran structure could be very clear that reelection is prohibited. Principally, you may be president as many occasions as you win in El Salvador, however simply not consecutively. So in September 2021, the Constitutional chamber, which is managed by pro-Bukele magistrates, issued a decision that claims that solely the folks can resolve whether or not the president ought to proceed, ignoring the articles of the Structure.
The chamber principally interprets one article of the structure to say the one requirement is that he step down from the place of president six months earlier than the start of the brand new presidential time period. So he stepped down from workplace earlier than December 1st of 2023, and the brand new interval will start in June.
Sean Rameswaram
What do folks assume he’s going to do now that he has this historic second time period?
Silvia Viñas
When he introduced that he was operating, he stated now we have proven that that is the one right path for El Salvador. We are able to count on the state of emergency to proceed. There’s no indication that Bukele plans to dial again his insurance policies.
There’s a priority that a number of specialists talked about regarding his reputation whereas so many individuals have been arrested. As his reputation decreases, there’s a priority that he’ll use the navy much more, turn into extra ironfisted, and implement extra of those insurance policies to take care of his energy.
To listen to the remainder of the dialog, click on right here, and be sure you observe In the present day, Defined on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, or wherever you hearken to podcasts.
