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I. People cheering for the end of democracy
When the heat and the crowds began to drive the crowd to despair, loudspeakers placed in various corners of the central square announced their arrival. At 9 a.m. on June 1, 2024, the vehicle carrying Nayib Bukele stopped next to the National Palace in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador.
He walked with his wife on a red carpet in front of the building, smiling as they greeted thousands of Salvadorans who arrived early to watch him be sworn in as president for a second term.
“He looks like a prince!” exclaimed a young student in the middle of the crowd. Immediately, his peers responded with a loud “yes”. They saw a different Bukele. Instead of his usual jacket and tie, he wore a high-necked black frock coat with gold embroidery on the sleeves and hem, which gave him the air of a cadet or a member of the royal family.
The presidential couple disappeared after heading to the palace. Only the closest circle could watch the ceremony live. The rest, like the young woman who compared him to a prince, watched the ceremony from the square through the LED screen installed in front.
The military aesthetic was part of the symbolism of that Saturday morning; from the hundreds of soldiers guarding the perimeter to the parade of 1,890 members of the armed forces who greeted the president. Dressed in black capes, like an Imperial officer from Star Wars or Augusto Pinochet from Chile, but in the tropics and at 27 degrees.
The attendees applauded their president, many coming from far-flung regions, arriving on buses sponsored by people with links to the government or official political parties, as admitted by some attendees such as school principals and municipal employees. Others rode on transport provided by the Ministry of Public Works for citizens of the capital. There were also some who arrived alone, with family or friends. Some even came by plane to attend the inauguration.
“This is the first time in the history of our country that generations like us will witness; the inauguration is a special thing, the president has the opportunity to be part of the government for the second time in the next five years,” said Elias Conde, an immigrant who left El Salvador in 1982 and returned last year (2023) for the first time. He came from Sacramento, California, USA, to support Bukele. He stood in the sun, wearing a T-shirt with the president’s portrait and the national emblem.
For some, this is a historic day, but for all, it must have a positive meaning. 80 years have passed since the last Salvadoran president expanded his powers unconstitutionally and established a de facto government; that is, without legal support: the dictator Maximiliano Hernández Martínez in 1931.
But it is not this example that Bukele is following in his campaign for a second term, but the practice of modern dictators like Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua: the President of El Salvador illegally fired Supreme Court judges in order to keep his job. In May 2021, he took a seat on the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and appointed new officials (who were among the guests that morning) to reinterpret the Magna Carta, thus opening the door to his reelection.
For Elias Conde, who after 31 years can return to his country without fear of gang violence, and for a large part of the population that supports the political leader, the legitimacy of Bukele’s second term is the least important thing. He also does not want to know about complaints about arbitrary detentions, deaths in state custody, and human rights violations during the state of emergency, Bukele’s security policy. He explained that the result is what matters, and he is not interested in how it is done.
“These allegations are coming from people who have never agreed with the actions the president has taken. This is truly a shaky opposition with no credibility,” he said.
At 9:24 a.m., the president swore an oath with his hand on the constitution, but he and his party have repeatedly violated the constitution to reach this day. Experts such as lawyer Enrique Anaya explained that thanks to the latest official move, Bukele and his parliament will be able to write their own constitution without going through the process of the Constituent Assembly.
On April 29, the party-controlled Legislative Assembly approved a reform that will allow for more explicit changes to Magna Carta. Previously, to reform it would have required approval in two legislative cycles; now, it would only require a single legislature vote.
Bukele was re-elected with 85% of the Salvadoran vote, and the Salvadorans gave him all the power in exchange for security, which is based on fear, and efficiency, which is above all else.
2. The Birth of a New Central American Dictator?
Daniel Zovatto, a political scientist and legal scholar at the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program, noted that in addition to the illegitimacy of the second government, Bukele has become an authoritarian leader throughout his term. He described how “the disintegration of democracy, the extreme concentration of power, the weakening of the rule of law, the abuse of emergency systems and serious human rights violations” have accelerated with popular support, he noted.
For him and others, June 1 marks the beginning of a new dictatorial project in Central America’s smallest country.
During the five years of his first term, Bukele succeeded in centralizing state power under his control, not only through successive attacks on the judiciary, enabling it to appoint magistrates and hundreds of judges, but also through legal reforms that eliminated opposition representation in parliament and local government.
The official New Idea party and its allies approved a reduction in the number of deputies from 84 to 60, using the pretext of “budgetary savings”. They changed the mathematical formula for allocating seats and succeeded in reducing the number of opposition deputies to 3. The territorial distribution of the state was also reformed, with the number of municipalities increased from 262 to 44, with the goal of minimizing political pluralism and benefiting the official parties.
Experts say this special regime, the star policy of his first period, not only served to dismantle gangs but also as a way to control the population. Among the thousands of detainees during the period when the measure was in effect were community leaders, trade union members, and human rights and environmental defenders. Innocent people.
The latest was the detention of a group of eight veterans, members of the Salvadoran Peace Alliance, on the eve of the inauguration on May 31. The Attorney General’s Office, appointed by Bukele, accused them of planning “an act of terrorism” to cause unrest on the day of the swearing-in ceremony. As evidence, the authorities released photos of four small mortars that they said “exploded gas stations, supermarkets and public institutions.”
The Salvadoran Committee of Political Prisoners (Cofappes) emerged as a result of the irregular detention of opposition politicians during Bukele’s government. He expressed sympathy for the coalition, calling it a “fraudulent arrest and fabricated case”. Families of the detainees have asked the authorities for information about their loved ones, several of whom are over 60 years old and suffer from chronic diseases.
“They are leaders, social fighters and defenders of human rights… They are not criminals or apologists for terrorist acts, as this government is clearly trying to criminalize the work of social organizations,” said Ivania Cruz from Cofappes, in a press release for the conference on Thursday, June 6.
Fear and self-censorship have become a collective feeling in Bukele’s El Salvador. Opinion leaders, think tanks and social organizations no longer openly criticize the government. For journalists, it is increasingly common for people to speak only under the condition of anonymity. “You know, because of the current situation,” sources usually defend themselves.
“The first five years were characterized by a multimillion-dollar media and persuasion campaign focused on convincing people that security could only be guaranteed by violating human rights. Therefore, those who defended human rights were enemies, criminals, terrorists,” recalls Celia Medrano, a researcher who ran as the vice-presidential candidate of the Soumar Initiative in the last elections.
For Medrano, the aggression (already permanent) against organizations, independent media and opposition leaders will escalate during his second term. Unjust laws will also be enacted to legalize the criminalization of these figures. Medrano (and other interviewees who did not want to appear in this article) predicted the beginning of Bukele’s dictatorship. In his words, it is the repression of criticism of his government and the deterioration of civil liberties.
3. Obedience and loyalty.
Bukele began his speech by clarifying that his second term is legitimate. “Despite what some opponents say, all governments in the world recognize this government. Among them, the US government, which sent a delegation to the inauguration, changed its position on the president’s re-election. (Joe) Biden’s diplomacy went from condemning the president’s re-election claims to affirming that he had no right to interfere in internal affairs.
In his speech, the de facto leader tried to convince those present that his legacy belongs to everyone and that they should defend it like lions. He then began to compare himself to the doctor who cured the cancer of the gangs in El Salvador and complained about those who decided to listen to the criticism of his methods by “other doctors”.
«I remind you what the Bible says: By their fruits you will know them. Ask yourself, who are those who promised but did nothing, and those of us who did succeed in changing the country, did bear good fruit. Just as the patient trusted the doctor who cured terminal cancer, and he also had a cure for other diseases. The opposition, although insignificant in numbers, but fanatical, continues to defend an institution, what they call democracy, which only allows our children, mothers, grandparents, friends and brothers to be murdered with impunity, “he said.
Bukele recalled the words he made in his first speech five years ago: he said that in order to heal itself, the country might have to take a bitter medicine. In his second term, he promised to work on the economy, which, according to opinion polls, is the main problem affecting the Salvadoran population, but he warned first that perhaps we will have to continue taking bitter medicine. For this, he asked his people for “unconditional loyalty”.
To make sure they understood what that meant, he made them swear an oath: “We swear to unconditionally defend our national program, to strictly carry out each step without complaint, to pray for God’s wisdom, and for the blessing of our country.” Another miracle. We swear never to listen to the enemies of the people. Most people in the square raised their right hands to listen to him.
He gave a final blessing to the nation in the name of God, and the people in the square bid him farewell with applause.
“President for life,” one woman in the crowd shouted.
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