Nayib Bukele – the ‘coolest dictator’ reshaping El Salvador
Niko Vorobyov | Al Jazeera English
Nayib Bukele, at 44, has turned El Salvador from the Western Hemisphere's most murderous nation into its safest, but at the cost of the world's highest incarceration rate and the abolition of presidential term limits. He calls himself the 'coolest dictator' and enjoys a 92% approval rating, even as critics warn of authoritarian creep. The country's future hinges on whether his iron-fisted rule can deliver lasting security without sacrificing democracy.
On March 25, 2022, hundreds of cell phones across El Salvador buzzed with the same text: “Adelante” (Forward). It was the signal for members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang to launch a blood-soaked attack. In just two days, 87 people were killed, 62 of them on Saturday – the deadliest day since the civil war of the 1980s.
In response, President Nayib Bukele immediately asked Congress to declare a state of emergency, suspending all constitutional rights. The military and police set up checkpoints everywhere; men were ordered out of their vehicles and told to roll up their sleeves for gang-tattoo checks. Within just over two weeks, more than 10,000 people were arrested. By 2026, about 1.9% of El Salvador’s population – roughly one in every 50 people – was behind bars, giving the nation the highest imprisonment rate on Earth.
Bukele himself acknowledged that thousands of innocent people had been swept up. One legal study argued the mass arrests could constitute crimes against humanity. Yet many Salvadorans are deeply satisfied. A poll in January 2026 gave Bukele an approval rating of 92%. The country that once had the highest homicide rate in the Western Hemisphere is now the safest in the region.
Bukele, 44, often appears in a backwards baseball cap and bomber jacket, cultivating a flashy, jovial public image. He calls himself “the world’s coolest dictator.” In 2021, he abolished presidential term limits, allowing unlimited re-election. Critics call this a step toward dictatorship. Samuel Ramirez of the Movement of Victims of the Regime (MOVIR) said: “People are told that if another government takes power, all the gangs will be released, so Bukele must stay.”
Bukele was born on July 24, 1981 in San Salvador, in the midst of the Salvadoran civil war. He came from a wealthy family – his father was a Palestinian-origin businessman who converted to Islam – but Bukele showed political ambition early. In 2012, he was elected mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlan as a member of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the former left-wing guerrilla group from the civil war. But he quickly distanced himself from the party, building a personal brand around the slogan “There is enough money when no one steals.”
In 2017, during a city council meeting, Bukele threw an apple at a female councilor and called her a “witch.” The case went to court but was later dismissed. Lawyer Bertha de Leon, who worked for Bukele for five years, is now one of his harshest critics: “He is extremely impulsive, with a very fragile ego. There is no real plan for governing the state in his head. Just an impulsive person making decisions on a whim.”
From a left-wing candidate who once championed LGBT and women’s rights, Bukele now pursues far-right policies: maintaining a strict abortion ban, outlawing inclusive language. Journalists and civil-society organizations are arrested, exiled, or intimidated into silence. El Faro – the first online newspaper in Central America – was forced to relocate to Costa Rica after facing a tax-evasion investigation and arrest warrants for its journalists.
With an approval rating of 92% and unlimited power, the question remains: Where is Bukele taking El Salvador?
