El Salvador’s authoritarian president is becoming a regional role model
That is dangerous for democracy and human rights
In january Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, carried out the latest of the eye-catching acts that have characterised his time in office. He inaugurated the “terrorist-confinement prison” on the plains near the San Vicente volcano in the centre of the country. Mr Bukele says it will hold 40,000 detainees, which will make it the largest prison in the world (and the most crowded in the Americas).
The president has a talent for getting his country of 6.3m people into global headlines. In 2020 he sent soldiers into the National Assembly to bully it into supporting his security budget. In 2021 El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender. Mr Bukele’s theatrics and his policies have paid political dividends. His approval rating has not dropped below 75% since he took office in 2019. In February it reached 90%, the highest in Latin America.
Explore more
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Borrowing from Bukele"
From the March 18th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from The Americas
Why Ecuador risked global condemnation to storm Mexico’s embassy
Jorge Glas, who had claimed asylum from Mexico, is accused of abetting drug networks
The world’s insatiable appetite for Canada’s maple syrup
Production is booming, but climate change is making output more erratic
Elon Musk is feuding with Brazil’s powerful Supreme Court
The court has become the de facto regulator of social media in the country