President Nayib Bukele celebrated a landslide victory on Sunday in El Salvador’s elections. Despite concerns about human rights and due process over his crackdown on gangs, voters rewarded the 42-year-old for transforming a country once known as the murder capital of the world into one of the safest in Latin America.
Though a final tally has not been released yet, Bukele claimed to win 85 percent of the vote.
Remember when they told us that mass arresting criminals in El Salvador was a ThreatToDemocracy?
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 5, 2024
87% of El Salvadorans just voted for it. pic.twitter.com/iEQcauiSyn
2019: Bukele wins the Presidency and announces sweeping reforms to crack down on crime and gangs
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 5, 2024
2020: Homicide rates at historic low
2021: Murder rate down 59% from 2019
2022: Murders decrease by over 50%
2023: Murders fall by 70%
2024: Bukele gets re-elected in landslide… pic.twitter.com/UVlawPNISs
Nayib Bukele is expected to win re-election tonight in a sweeping landslide victory.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 4, 2024
Why is he so popular? He did what he was elected to do. He cracked down on crime, jailed criminals & gang members, and murder rates dramatically decreased by 70% last year.
In 2023, El Salvador… pic.twitter.com/qcVgWCdfJf
Provisional results showed Bukele winning 83% support with 31% of the ballots counted.
His New Ideas party is expected to win almost all of the 60 seats in the legislative body, tightening its grip on the country and bestowing even more sway on Bukele, the most powerful leader in El Salvador's modern history.
"All together the opposition was pulverized," Bukele, standing with his wife on the balcony of the National Palace, told his supporters.
"El Salvador went from being the most unsafe (country) to the safest. Now in these next five years, wait to see what we are going to do," Bukele added.
New Ideas' electoral success means Bukele will wield unprecedented power and be able to overhaul El Salvador's constitution, which his opponents fear will result in scrapping of term limits.
Wildly popular, Bukele has campaigned on the success of his security strategy under which authorities suspended civil liberties to arrest more than 75,000 Salvadorans without charges. The detentions led to a sharp decline in nationwide murder rates and fundamentally altered a country of 6.3 million people that was once among the world's most dangerous. (Reuters)
One shopkeeper grateful for the changes Bukele made in the country told Reuters ahead of the election that he no longer had to pay a $300 extortion fee to the gangs every two weeks.
A 53-year-old construction worker also interviewed by Reuters said there was no reason to vote Bukele out.
"Why switch leaders? To go back to the same? We're happy without the gangs and he needs power to keep making change," said Elmer Martinez.
Bukele took to X to share videos of celebrations in San Salvador.
BREAKING: Streets of El Salvador erupting in celebrations as Bukele wins in HISTORIC landslide pic.twitter.com/UdJ68uWmoj
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 5, 2024
La verdadera democracia… https://t.co/gGZab7t6Vp
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 5, 2024
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine 💙🇸🇻#elsalvador pic.twitter.com/Mswedo08HL
— Carol 🇺🇲💙🇸🇻 (@ThatExpatMom) February 5, 2024
Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Bukele on the win.
Congratulations to President-elect Nayib Bukele of El Salvador on his electoral victory. We look forward to continuing to prioritize good governance, inclusive economic prosperity, fair trial guarantees, and human rights in El Salvador under the Root Causes Strategy.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 5, 2024