The US president, Donald Trump, has unleashed a string of controversial policies since returning to the White House that have put his administration at odds with most of the world. He has, at the same time, forged an alliance with one country that is willing to do his bidding abroad.
This country is El Salvador, a tiny central American nation nestled between Guatemala and Honduras. El Salvador has found itself at the forefront of overseeing Trump’s contentious drive to deport undocumented migrants.
In recent months, hundreds of foreign-born men have been deported from the US to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (Cecot) mega-prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador. This is part of an agreement between Trump and the self-declared “world’s coolest dictator”, Nayib Bukele.
Such is the warmth between Trump and El Salvador’s leader that the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, recently hailed their alliance as “an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere”.
The comment came shortly before Bukele met with Trump at the White House and said he will not return Kilmar Abrego García, a man that the US government admits was mistakenly deported. Bukele referred to the suggestion as “preposterous”.
This is despite a US Supreme Court ruling that the Trump administration “facilitate” García’s return. The US government says a court does not have the power to order the release of a person in a foreign prison.
Bukele, the grandson of Palestinian Christian immigrants, is considered something of a maverick. His background is in advertising. Through his business, Obermet, Bukele advertised two election campaigns for the ruling Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in the 2000s.
He joined the FMLN as a member in 2012, and was elected as mayor of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, three years later. Bukele’s relationship with the FMLN soon became strained. After several public spats, he was expelled from the party. This included calling Luis Martínez, the country’s then attorney-general, a “gangster, very corrupt, [and] the worst of the worst”.
Bukele subsequently launched his own political front, Nuevas Ideas. And when the country’s electoral court refused to register the party for the 2019 presidential elections, he ran as the candidate for the right-wing Grand Alliance for National Unity. Bukele won with 53% of the vote and, since then, his political fortunes have been in constant ascent.
While many outside El Salvador see Bukele as a serial human rights abuser, his countrymen consider him a political messiah. His popularity is such that he won an unprecedented second presidential term in 2024 with over 84% of the vote.
The country’s constitution had previously restricted a sitting president from contesting two terms in a row. Bukele’s critics say he circumvented the rules by using his congressional majority to replace Supreme Court judges.
The court later ruled that the president can serve two consecutive terms in office. In the past, Bukele has remarked that restrictions on re-election only exist in developing countries.
Bukele’s popularity stems from having rid his country of gang violence. El Salvador was once known for having the highest per capita homicide rate in the world, with 105 murders per 100,000 people in 2015. But under Bukele’s leadership, it is now considered a haven of peace in an otherwise unstable region.
In 2022, after a spate of gang killings, Bukele declared a state of emergency. The decree curtailed the right to be informed of the reason for arrest and access to a lawyer upon being detained. It also allowed for administrative detention of more than 72 hours.
Tens of thousands of people were rounded up and thrown in jail without trial. El Salvador now has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with roughly 110,000 people in jail. The proportion of its population that is incarcerated is twice that of the next nearest country, Cuba.
Many of the alleged criminals – as well as those deported from the US – are held in Cecot. The prison has been described by activists as “a black hole of human rights”. When Bukele first unveiled the facility, he said prisoners would receive “not one ray of sunlight”.
Bukele’s tough anti-criminal stance has been lauded across Latin America. Many regional leaders have embraced Bukele-style policies to tackle criminal violence in their respective countries. His policies have also clearly been appreciated by Trump.
The US president, Donald Trump, has unleashed a string of controversial policies since returning to the White House that have put his administration at odds with most of the world. He has, at the same time, forged an alliance with one country that is willing to do his bidding abroad.
This country is El Salvador, a tiny central American nation nestled between Guatemala and Honduras. El Salvador has found itself at the forefront of overseeing Trump’s contentious drive to deport undocumented migrants.
In recent months, hundreds of foreign-born men have been deported from the US to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (Cecot) mega-prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador. This is part of an agreement between Trump and the self-declared “world’s coolest dictator”, Nayib Bukele.
Such is the warmth between Trump and El Salvador’s leader that the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, recently hailed their alliance as “an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere”.
The comment came shortly before Bukele met with Trump at the White House and said he will not return Kilmar Abrego García, a man that the US government admits was mistakenly deported. Bukele referred to the suggestion as “preposterous”.
This is despite a US Supreme Court ruling that the Trump administration “facilitate” García’s return. The US government says a court does not have the power to order the release of a person in a foreign prison.
Bukele, the grandson of Palestinian Christian immigrants, is considered something of a maverick. His background is in advertising. Through his business, Obermet, Bukele advertised two election campaigns for the ruling Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in the 2000s.
He joined the FMLN as a member in 2012, and was elected as mayor of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, three years later. Bukele’s relationship with the FMLN soon became strained. After several public spats, he was expelled from the party. This included calling Luis Martínez, the country’s then attorney-general, a “gangster, very corrupt, [and] the worst of the worst”.
Bukele subsequently launched his own political front, Nuevas Ideas. And when the country’s electoral court refused to register the party for the 2019 presidential elections, he ran as the candidate for the right-wing Grand Alliance for National Unity. Bukele won with 53% of the vote and, since then, his political fortunes have been in constant ascent.
While many outside El Salvador see Bukele as a serial human rights abuser, his countrymen consider him a political messiah. His popularity is such that he won an unprecedented second presidential term in 2024 with over 84% of the vote.
The country’s constitution had previously restricted a sitting president from contesting two terms in a row. Bukele’s critics say he circumvented the rules by using his congressional majority to replace Supreme Court judges.
The court later ruled that the president can serve two consecutive terms in office. In the past, Bukele has remarked that restrictions on re-election only exist in developing countries.
Bukele’s popularity stems from having rid his country of gang violence. El Salvador was once known for having the highest per capita homicide rate in the world, with 105 murders per 100,000 people in 2015. But under Bukele’s leadership, it is now considered a haven of peace in an otherwise unstable region.
In 2022, after a spate of gang killings, Bukele declared a state of emergency. The decree curtailed the right to be informed of the reason for arrest and access to a lawyer upon being detained. It also allowed for administrative detention of more than 72 hours.
Tens of thousands of people were rounded up and thrown in jail without trial. El Salvador now has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with roughly 110,000 people in jail. The proportion of its population that is incarcerated is twice that of the next nearest country, Cuba.
Many of the alleged criminals – as well as those deported from the US – are held in Cecot. The prison has been described by activists as “a black hole of human rights”. When Bukele first unveiled the facility, he said prisoners would receive “not one ray of sunlight”.
Bukele’s tough anti-criminal stance has been lauded across Latin America. Many regional leaders have embraced Bukele-style policies to tackle criminal violence in their respective countries. His policies have also clearly been appreciated by Trump.
Alliance of convenience
Bukele and Trump share the same ideological persuasion. Both are conservative right-wing populists. But while there is a deep convergence in their ideology, their alliance is also one of convenience.
Trump wants to rid the US of undocumented migrants from south of the border. El Salvador has, so far, provided a convenient avenue to address his administration’s needs.
And for Bukele, it is financially worthwhile to house deportees from the US. The Bukele and Trump administrations have reportedly signed an agreement that will pay El Salvador US$20,000 (£15,000) per prisoner. This is a significant sum for El Salvador’s economy.
His alliance with Trump will also help him shore up his political position at home and consolidate his image as a “do gooder” in an otherwise violent continent.
Bukele’s security strategy has certainly rid El Salvador of gang violence. However, opening up El Salvador as a destination to address other countries’ criminality sets a bad precedent.
Encouraged by Bukele’s policies, more states could choose to violate human rights and ignore judicial process by simply dumping their own citizens and others in prisons abroad. This is a reality that more courts may soon struggle to prevent.
The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/nayib-bukele-el-salvadors-strongman-leader-doing-donald-trumps-legwork-abroad-254629
Nayib Bukele: El líder autoritario de El Salvador que hace el trabajo pesado de Donald Trump en el extranjero
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, ha desatado una serie de políticas controvertidas desde que regresó a la Casa Blanca que han enfrentado a su administración con la mayor parte del mundo. Al mismo tiempo, ha forjado una alianza con un país que está dispuesto a cumplir sus órdenes en el extranjero.
Este país es El Salvador, una pequeña nación centroamericana ubicada entre Guatemala y Honduras. El Salvador se ha encontrado en primera línea supervisando la polémica iniciativa de Trump para deportar a migrantes indocumentados.
En los últimos meses, cientos de hombres nacidos en el extranjero han sido deportados desde EE. UU. a la megacárcel del Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (Cecot) en Tecoluca, El Salvador. Esto forma parte de un acuerdo entre Trump y el autoproclamado “dictador más cool del mundo”, Nayib Bukele.
Tal es la sintonía entre Trump y el líder de El Salvador que el secretario de Estado de EE. UU., Marco Rubio, elogió recientemente su alianza como “un ejemplo para la seguridad y la prosperidad en nuestro hemisferio”.
El comentario se produjo poco antes de que Bukele se reuniera con Trump en la Casa Blanca y dijera que no devolverá a Kilmar Abrego García, un hombre que el gobierno estadounidense admite haber deportado por error. Bukele calificó la sugerencia de “absurda”.
Esto a pesar de un fallo de la Corte Suprema de EE. UU. que indicaba que la administración Trump debía “facilitar” el regreso de García. El gobierno estadounidense dice que un tribunal no tiene la autoridad para ordenar la liberación de una persona en una prisión extranjera.
Bukele, nieto de inmigrantes palestinos cristianos, es considerado alguien poco convencional. Proviene del mundo de la publicidad. A través de su empresa, Obermet, Bukele hizo publicidad para dos campañas electorales del entonces gobernante Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) en la década de 2000.
Se unió al FMLN como miembro en 2012 y fue elegido alcalde de la capital de El Salvador, San Salvador, tres años después. La relación de Bukele con el FMLN pronto se tensó. Tras varias disputas públicas, fue expulsado del partido. Esto incluyó llamar a Luis Martínez, entonces fiscal general del país, “gánster, muy corrupto [y] lo peor de lo peor”.
Posteriormente, Bukele lanzó su propio frente político, Nuevas Ideas. Y cuando el tribunal electoral del país se negó a inscribir al partido para las elecciones presidenciales de 2019, se presentó como candidato de la derechista Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional. Bukele ganó con el 53 % de los votos y, desde entonces, su suerte política ha estado en constante ascenso.
Mientras que muchos fuera de El Salvador ven a Bukele como un violador sistemático de los derechos humanos, sus compatriotas lo consideran un mesías político. Su popularidad es tal que ganó un segundo mandato presidencial sin precedentes en 2024 con más del 84 % de los votos.
La constitución del país restringía previamente que un presidente en funciones compitiera por dos mandatos consecutivos. Los críticos de Bukele dicen que eludió las normas usando su mayoría en el Congreso para reemplazar a los magistrados de la Corte Suprema.
El tribunal dictaminó posteriormente que el presidente puede ejercer dos mandatos consecutivos. En el pasado, Bukele ha comentado que las restricciones a la reelección solo existen en países en desarrollo.
La popularidad de Bukele proviene de haber librado a su país de la violencia de las pandillas. El Salvador fue conocido por tener la tasa de homicidios per cápita más alta del mundo, con 105 asesinatos por cada 100.000 personas en 2015. Pero bajo el liderazgo de Bukele, ahora se considera un remanso de paz en una región por lo demás inestable.
En 2022, tras una oleada de asesinatos cometidos por pandillas, Bukele declaró el régimen de excepción. El decreto restringió el derecho a ser informado del motivo de la detención y al acceso a un abogado al ser detenido. También permitió la detención administrativa por más de 72 horas.
Decenas de miles de personas fueron detenidas y encarceladas sin juicio. El Salvador tiene ahora la tasa de encarcelamiento más alta del mundo, con aproximadamente 110.000 personas en la cárcel. La proporción de su población encarcelada es el doble que la del siguiente país más cercano, Cuba.
Muchos de los presuntos delincuentes –así como los deportados desde EE. UU.– están recluidos en el Cecot. La prisión ha sido descrita por activistas como “un agujero negro de los derechos humanos”. Cuando Bukele presentó la instalación por primera vez, dijo que los prisioneros recibirían “ni un solo rayo de sol”.
La mano dura de Bukele contra el crimen ha sido elogiada en toda América Latina. Muchos líderes regionales han adoptado políticas al estilo Bukele para combatir la violencia delictiva en sus respectivos países. Sus políticas claramente también han sido apreciadas por Trump.
Alianza de conveniencia
Bukele y Trump comparten la misma orientación ideológica. Ambos son populistas conservadores de derecha. Pero si bien existe una profunda convergencia en su ideología, su alianza es también de conveniencia.
Trump quiere librar a EE. UU. de los migrantes indocumentados procedentes del sur de la frontera. El Salvador, hasta ahora, ha proporcionado una vía conveniente para satisfacer las necesidades de su administración.
Y para Bukele, es financieramente rentable albergar a los deportados desde EE. UU. Según informes, las administraciones de Bukele y Trump han firmado un acuerdo que pagará a El Salvador US$20.000 (£15.000) por prisionero. Esta es una suma significativa para la economía de El Salvador.
Su alianza con Trump también le ayudará a reforzar su posición política interna y consolidar su imagen de “benefactor” en un continente por lo demás violento.
La estrategia de seguridad de Bukele ciertamente ha librado a El Salvador de la violencia de las pandillas. Sin embargo, abrir El Salvador como destino para abordar la criminalidad de otros países sienta un mal precedente.
Alentados por las políticas de Bukele, más estados podrían optar por violar los derechos humanos e ignorar los procesos judiciales simplemente deshaciéndose de sus propios ciudadanos y de otros en cárceles extranjeras. Esta es una realidad que pronto podría resultar difícil de prevenir para más tribunales.
The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/nayib-bukele-el-salvadors-strongman-leader-doing-donald-trumps-legwork-abroad-254629