Nayib Bukele’s crime Crackdown: A Model for Latin America?
An in-depth look at El Salvador‘s approach to crime reduction and it’s implications for democracy and individual rights in teh region.
The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has garnered significant attention, boasting an approval rating of approximately 83 percent, according to recent polls. His influence extends beyond El Salvador, with a substantial following of 10.8 million on TikTok, exceeding the population of his own country. A considerable portion of his social media content is also in English.
Figures on the right in the United States view Bukele as a source of inspiration. Following Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Jr.’s attendance at Bukele’s second-term inauguration last year, Carlson commented on X that Bukele “may have the blueprint for saving the world.” During Bukele’s visit to the White House in April, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to him as “one hell of a president.”
As Bukele assumed office in 2019, El Salvador has transitioned from being one of the most hazardous countries in the Americas to one of the safest. In 2024, El Salvador’s homicide rate was 1.9 per 100,000 people, lower than the United States’ rate of 6.8 per 100,000 in 2023. However, Bukele’s methods for reducing violent crime have faced controversy.
Initially,Bukele deployed police and military forces against gang members,resulting in mass detentions. In 2022, he escalated his strategy by imposing a state of emergency that suspended constitutional rights, which has since been extended more than 30 times. Under Bukele’s directives, security forces have detained tens of thousands of individuals, many without prior criminal records, some of whom are sent to a new mega-prison, now the world’s largest.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration entered into an agreement with El Salvador to send U.S. deportees to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), where the human rights organization Cristosal has documented widespread abuses.
Bukele’s policies have also garnered attention in Latin America, where violent crime remains a significant issue in many countries. In 2022, rafael López Aliaga, the mayor of Lima, Peru, stated that “Bukele has accomplished a miracle” in reducing El Salvador’s homicide rate and pledged to implement similar measures. Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich visited CECOT to gain insights into what she termed Bukele’s “method.”
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