Hey, you know President Bukele of El Salvador, the guy who’s hosting Trump’s deportees to the hellish CECOT camp?
Well, El Salvador has just abolished presidential term limits, allowing him to run an indefinite number of times.
And he’s 44.
Fair squeeze, but this guy was always, and will always be most likely to leave office in the aftermath of a military coup d’etat .
So my understanding is that he is popular because he took on crime. He arrested all the gang members and put them in prisons.
Fine and good, and I can understand why people supported him for that. El Salvador went from one of the most dangerous places on earth to safer than a lot of European nations.
But what else does this guy offer the people of El Salvador? Couldn’t a new president keep up the anti crime attempts while having different policies in other areas? What incentive do the people have to keep electing him?
Crime started dropping off a cliff in 2015, and by 2023 it was on parity with the US and Canada. What happens in 2027 or 2030? The crime rate isn’t going to keep dropping below its 2023 low, not in any meaningful way.
Least surprising event of 2025.
He’s young, dynamic, charismatic, in with the leader of the dominant power. The economy’s doing okay. No one else managed to solve the crime problem, in all these years. Unless he screws up notably in some way, why would voters risk messing up a good thing?
Putting vast sections of the population in prison is a temporary fix; this only gives them time to form social networks in prison that makes things worse when they get out.
I’m guessing the argument of Bukele and his supporters will be, “If we elect anyone but Bukele, crime will make a comeback.” Any candidate that runs against Bukele will be painted as soft on crime even if not.
What makes you think he’s going to let them out?