In Pics I The defiant, populist leader of El Salvador who legalised cryptocurrency bitcoin
Bukele's presidency so far is the story of one of Latin America's newest populist autocracies in the making: spending big to hand out goodies, branding opponents as enemies, raising the profile of the military.
Associated Press
July 05, 2021 / 18:32 IST
1/17
In the narrow, gang-controlled alleys of the Las Palmas neighborhood, struggling Salvadorans are untroubled by actions of their president that so infuriate his critics. They are not bothered by Nayib Bukele’s dictatorial maneuvers -- sending armed troops into congress to coerce a vote, or ousting independent judges from the country’s highest court, paving the way to control all branches of government. They praise his relentless attacks on the politicians who governed El Salvador for nearly 30 years before him, and the elites who benefited from their rule. (Image: AP)
2/17
In this neighborhood they are grateful for the boxes of food staples they’ve received from Bukele’s government during the pandemic. Government employees load boxes of food staples to be delivered to the families living in the gang-controlled Las Palmas neighborhood, in San Salvador, El Salvador. (Image: AP)
3/17
Health Minister Francisco Alabi, accompanied by El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, right, inoculates a healthcare worker with a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Atlacatl Medical Unit of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute, in San Salvador, El Salvador. Salvadoran adults proudly pat their shoulders and say they got both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine long before most other people in Central America. (Image: AP)
4/17
Julio Cesar Lopez, a painter, prepares his tools of his trade in the Las Palmas neighborhood, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 3. "They talk about democracy... I don't know what else," said the 60-year-old. "It makes me really happy that they're kicking out that class of people", referring to the government of Nayib Bukele who enjoys an approval rating of more than 90 percent among people who saw three of four previous presidents jailed or exiled for corruption. (Image: AP)
Bukele's presidency so far is the story of one of Latin America's newest populist autocracies in the making: spending big to hand out goodies, branding opponents as enemies, raising the profile of the military. Like former President Donald Trump, Bukele prefers social media over press conferences, so he can control the message, though he does not miss a good photo op to brandish his image. (Image: AP)
6/17
Fabian Santos, a street vendor and supporter of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele poses with a Bukele mask outside a vaccination center in San Salvador, El Salvador. Bukele has convinced most Salvadorans that his government is on the move against poverty and gang violence, said Leonor Arteaga, program director at the Due Process of Law Foundation, a regional rule of law organization based in Washington. "No one can deny that he effectively has the support of the majority of the population and he is using that support and manipulating it to advance his agenda." (Image: AP)
7/17
The residents of Las Palmas say they recognize President Nayib Bukele's concentration of power and initially, at least, they seem willing to trade democratic ideals for short-term solutions to their yawning needs. (Image: AP)
8/17
The 39-year-old Bukele, a non-ideological pragmatist, is the latest in a string of Latin American presidents from across the political spectrum who have used elections and their personal popularity to amass power. (Image: AP)
Bertha Maria Deleon, an organized crime prosecutor turned criminal defense lawyer, left, leaves the Attorney General's Office, accompanied by her defense attorney after being notified that she was facing criminal proceedings, in San Salvador, El Salvador, May 26. When President Nayib Bukele faced some legal trouble, he asked Deleon to join his defense team and she gradually became a close adviser, one of the few who would disagree with him during four years working together. (Image: AP)
10/17
Armed Special Forces soldiers, following orders of President Nayib Bukele, enter congress in San Salvador, El Salvador, February 9, 2020. Bukele had been locked in battle with the opposition-controlled congress. He wanted lawmakers to approve funding for a security plan to control gangs, but they had refused to convene for a vote. “If we wanted to press the button, we would press the button” and remove lawmakers from the legislature, he told supporters gathered outside the building. “But I asked God and God told me: patience, patience, patience.” (Image: AP)
11/17
A year later, New Ideas won a supermajority in legislative elections. On May 1, the first day the new lawmakers were seated, they voted to remove and then replace the five justices of the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber, and the attorney general. As the lawmakers prepared to vote, police surrounded the Supreme Court. A police patrol vehicle was parked outside the Supreme Court president’s home. The justices’ replacements, all with ties to Bukele or his party, were later escorted into the building by police. (Image: AP)
12/17
To different degrees, the autocrats use their militaries to amplify their power. In El Salvador, there is concern that Bukele is both expanding the role of the military in politics and working to ensure that they are more devoted to him than to the constitution. (Image: AP)
13/17
Experts say perhaps Bukele’s biggest challenge will be to continue his brand of populism while El Salvador’s financial resources dwindle. El Salvador’s debt grew more than 15 percent last year, much of it pandemic-related spending, and in 2020 the ratio of debt to GDP was 89.9 percent. The new congress has approved heaps more since May 1. Some believe Bukele’s shocking announcement last month that El Salvador would make the volatile cryptocurrency bitcoin official tender along with the U.S. dollar could be a play to increase his room to maneuver financially. (Image: AP)
14/17
However popular Bukele remains domestically, he faces unfriendly reaction from abroad. The Biden administration has been more wary of Bukele than was Trump, who seemed content with him as long as the number of Salvadorans migrating to the U.S. border kept falling. Administration officials publicly criticized the May 1 removal of judges and the attorney general. (Image: AP)
15/17
The U.S. Agency for International Development announced it would shift all aid from El Salvador’s government agencies to civil society organizations. The agency’s chief, Samantha Power, came to San Salvador and gave a speech on democracy on Oliva’s campus. (Image: AP)
16/17
A sign with a message that reads in Spanish; "Assistance from China, for a shared future", is part of the remodeling work in the area of the boardwalk on the pier in La Libertad, El Salvador, June 18. Bukele is trying to improve El Salvador's relationship with China. But with a quarter of El Salvador's population living in the U.S. and sending home about $6 billion in remittances last year, no one believes China could begin to replace the deep ties to the United States. (Image: AP)
17/17
Late on May 1, as international condemnation began to pour in over the ousting of the judges and attorney general, Bukele was defiant. (Image: AP)
![Julio Cesar Lopez, a painter, prepares his tools of his trade in the Las Palmas neighborhood, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 3. "They talk about democracy... I don't know what else," said the 60-year-old. "It makes me really happy that they're kicking out that class of people", referring to the government of Nayib Bukele who enjoys an approval rating of more than 90 percent among people who saw three of four previous presidents jailed or exiled for corruption. (Image: AP)](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2021/07/9-defiant-leader-of-el-salvador.jpg "Julio Cesar Lopez, a painter, prepares his tools of his trade in the Las Palmas neighborhood, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 3. "They talk about democracy... I don't know what else," said the 60-year-old. "It makes me really happy that they're kicking out that class of people", referring to the government of Nayib Bukele who enjoys an approval rating of more than 90 percent among people who saw three of four previous presidents jailed or exiled for corruption. (Image: AP)")
![Fabian Santos, a street vendor and supporter of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele poses with a Bukele mask outside a vaccination center in San Salvador, El Salvador. Bukele has convinced most Salvadorans that his government is on the move against poverty and gang violence, said Leonor Arteaga, program director at the Due Process of Law Foundation, a regional rule of law organization based in Washington. "No one can deny that he effectively has the support of the majority of the population and he is using that support and manipulating it to advance his agenda." (Image: AP)](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2021/07/11-defiant-leader-of-el-salvador.jpg "Fabian Santos, a street vendor and supporter of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele poses with a Bukele mask outside a vaccination center in San Salvador, El Salvador. Bukele has convinced most Salvadorans that his government is on the move against poverty and gang violence, said Leonor Arteaga, program director at the Due Process of Law Foundation, a regional rule of law organization based in Washington. "No one can deny that he effectively has the support of the majority of the population and he is using that support and manipulating it to advance his agenda." (Image: AP)")
![A sign with a message that reads in Spanish; "Assistance from China, for a shared future", is part of the remodeling work in the area of the boardwalk on the pier in La Libertad, El Salvador, June 18. Bukele is trying to improve El Salvador's relationship with China. But with a quarter of El Salvador's population living in the U.S. and sending home about $6 billion in remittances last year, no one believes China could begin to replace the deep ties to the United States. (Image: AP)](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2021/07/13-defiant-leader-of-el-salvador.jpg "A sign with a message that reads in Spanish; "Assistance from China, for a shared future", is part of the remodeling work in the area of the boardwalk on the pier in La Libertad, El Salvador, June 18. Bukele is trying to improve El Salvador's relationship with China. But with a quarter of El Salvador's population living in the U.S. and sending home about $6 billion in remittances last year, no one believes China could begin to replace the deep ties to the United States. (Image: AP)")
