El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who has dubbed himself the “world’s coolest dictator,” was elected to a second term Sunday.
“Today, El Salvador has broken all the records of all the democracies in the world. Since democracies have existed, never has a project won with the quantity of votes that we have won today,” Bukele said in proclaiming victory Sunday night, according to CNN.
“El Salvador went from being the most unsafe (country) to the safest. Now in these next five years, wait to see what we are going to do,” Bukele said, according to Reuters.
Although the country’s constitution does not permit a president to be re-elected, the prohibition was little more than a speed bump on Bukele’s path.
Nayib Bukele is expected to win re-election tonight in a sweeping landslide victory.
Why is he so popular? He did what he was elected to do. He cracked down on crime, jailed criminals & gang members, and murder rates dramatically decreased by 70% last year.
In 2023, El Salvador… pic.twitter.com/qcVgWCdfJf
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 4, 2024
“Everyone knows it is unconstitutional to re-elect the president, but what people want is security. They don’t care if it is unconstitutional, they just want to feel safe,” said Josue Galdamez, a businessman who backed Bukele.
With 70 percent of the votes cast, Bukele had 83 percent of the vote, according to The New York Times.
Do you know who Bukele is?
Bukele owes his popularity to his crushing war against gangs that dominated El Salvador that resulted in more than 75,000 arrests. Although concerns have been voiced that his crackdown could lead to further actions against the media or other groups, he said the nation has benefited and that the results created a new day for the nation.
NEW: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is set to obliterate the competition in El Salvador’s election, gathering over 80% of the votes so far (Reuters).
Bukele is just 42 years old, is pro-God, pro-Patriotism and has waged total war on gangs.
Here was a speech that Bukele gave… pic.twitter.com/NdSWCTSSY7
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 5, 2024
“This will be the first time where one party rules a country in a completely democratic system. The entire opposition has been pulverized,” he said.
He noted that his presidency is a watershed in his country’s history.
“We are not replacing democracy because El Salvador has never had democracy,” he said, adding, “This is the first time in history that El Salvador has democracy.”
How did Nayib Bukele win so much of the El Salvadoran vote? Firstly, he made it safe by crushing the crime lords, jailing gang members en masse and enforcing the law to turn what was once the continent’s deadliest nation into the safest.
He did what many said was impossible,… pic.twitter.com/uTGutp2uH4
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 5, 2024
During his victory speech, he slammed foreign critics and journalists who have opposed his policies.
“I ask these organisms, foreign governments, I ask these journalists: Why do they want us to kill each other?” he said, according to the Associated Press.
“Why do they want to see the blood of Salvadorans? Why are they not happy that blood doesn’t flow in our country the way it once did? Why should we and our children die?” he said.
