We return to El Salvador for a moment. Nayib Bukele's party, New Ideas, took first place in the parliamentary elections. The problem is that the opposition claims that the election was rigged. So will Bukele, the region's No. 1 bitcoin fan, lose power?
New Ideas won because they committed fouls?
On February 20, the body supervising elections in El Salvador announced that the New Ideas party won as many as 54 of 60 seats in parliament. Additionally, Bukele won the presidential elections again. A majority in congress will allow him to continue his policies.
Bukele declared victory on February 5, the day after the elections. He did this before the official results were published.
The opposition has not accepted its defeat and is calling for the elections to be invalidated, accusing New Ideas of electoral fraud. According to Vamos, politicians from the Nuestro Tiempo (Our Time) and Nationalist Republican Alliance parties discovered 69 “anomalies” in the electoral process. The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front pointed to similar abuses.
So is Bukele's power in danger? I don't think so. However, to understand his position in the country, we need to look at how he governs El Salvador.
Is Nayib Bukele a dictator?
Bukele took office as president in June 2019. He quickly started his revolution. It's not only about pro-Bitcoin policy, but also about declaring war on the mafia that previously ruled the country. The services began to arrest gang members en masse. Even a tattoo with the symbol of a criminal organization can land you behind bars.
Bukele has been hailed as “the coolest dictator in the world.” Despite reports of human rights violations in the fight against gangs (the United Nations reported that “mass detentions” have been introduced in El Salvador since 2022, many people have been murdered in custody), he managed to portray himself as a cool guy. He communicates his decision to X to his citizens (he even dismissed a minister) and announces new reforms from time to time.
Voters liked the latter so much that they elected Bukele for a second term. And here is the second problem.
El Salvador's constitution prohibits one person from serving two terms as head of state. However, the Supreme Court interpreted the provisions to allow Buekele to run for re-election. If the election results are to be believed, he won with an overwhelming majority of votes. The question is whether everything was done fairly in this area as well.
