‘Dictator of El Salvador’ basks in popularity as he wages war on gangs
- El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele maintains high levels of approval within his country for his actions against violent gangs
- His government has tackled one of the world’s highest murder rates, and jailed tens of thousands of suspected gang members
In his four years as president, Nayib Bukele has shaken up El Salvador: consolidating power, making Bitcoin legal tender and waging a “war” on gangs that’s earned him opprobrium from rights groups but adoration from a crime-fatigued nation.
As he gears up to contest a second term in February 2024, the 41-year-old president, who adopted the label “Dictator of El Salvador” in an ironic nod to critics, is basking in sky-high approval ratings.
Brushing aside two establishment parties to sweep to victory in 2019 elections, Bukele, who assumed office on June 1 of that year, stuck to his promise to tackle one of the world’s highest murder rates, jailing tens of thousands of suspected gang members along the way.
To house them, he had the largest prison in the Americas built in a matter of months, a 40,000-person complex that more than doubled the country’s penitentiary capacity.
The murder rate plummeted.
