In his re-election campaign, Nayib Bukele defends his war on gangs and winks at Javier Milei

Nayib Bukele On Wednesday, he took his campaign for re-election as president of El Salvador beyond the borders of the small Central American country to capitalize on his own growing popularity throughout Latin America. And he took the opportunity to launch a new message of support for Argentine president Javier Milei, with whom he has already demonstrated good harmony in recent months.

During a two-hour “Space” forum on Platform X, formerly Twitter, Bukele accused critics of his controversial security policies of trying to keep El Salvador and other developing nations in check.

The politician attacked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and similar international institutions claim that they “seem to have a mission to keep us in underdevelopment.” The IACHR called in April for an end to the state of emergency that was established in March 2022 and suspends fundamental rights to allow the government to step up the fight against the country’s powerful criminal gangs.

Bukele explained that to transform the reality of El Salvador they began by changing the laws, they removed judges and prosecutors and his party obtained a majority in Congress, adding that they not only received criticism “but they condemned us publicly.”

“Public condemnations were not enough, they came to El Salvador to ask that everything be returned to how it was before. But we had the courage not to listen to them. We endured the condemnations at that time and I think they got tired of condemning us,” she added.

March 27, 2022, when they signed up 62 murders in one dayCongress approved the declaration of a state of emergency, which limits freedom of association, suspends a person’s right to be informed of the reason for his arrest and to request the assistance of a lawyer. It also extends the period of administrative detention from 72 hours to 15 days and allows authorities to intercept the correspondence and cell phones of those it deems suspicious.

Parliament has also reformed the penal code so that members of gangs or maras, or any other criminal organization, can also be included. sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison. The gang leaders risk sentences of 45 to 60 years in prison.

The government assures that the extraordinary measures were successful and that 74,000 people were captured, of which more than 7,000 were released by the judges due to lack of evidence.

Road to a controversial re-election

Bukele took a temporary leave last month to run for re-election –despite the constitutional provision that prohibits it– and appointed his private secretary in his place. The Supreme Court, made up of judges selected by the president’s allies in Congress, ruled in 2021 that he could run for a second five-year term in the Feb. 4 election.

In one of the most recent surveys, 70.8% of those interviewed approve of the Bukele government and 97.7% believe that violence has decreased. The survey conducted by the Jesuit-run José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) gave a large advantage to the ruling Nuevas Ideas party.

According to the poll, 61.7% would vote for Bukele’s party, 2.6% for the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and 1.5% for the right-wing Arena party.

Asked about the possibility of reforming the Constitution to support a permanent re-election, Bukele said Wednesday that current legislation does not allow it, nor does it authorize plebiscites to attempt to reform the Magna Carta.

“It’s not even something I’m seeking, permanent re-election.”“, he indicated.

Message to Milei

Bukele added that he had spoken to one of the foreign politicians in a country where people were fed up with traditional parties: Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, a self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” who won the election after campaigning against what he called the political caste of the country.

During a two hour conversationAccording to Bukele, he told him he will have to face a system he doesn’t like.

“I told him I wish him good luck, we wish him the best and we hope he can overcome those obstacles, the obstacle of reality, as well as the system obstacle that will try to block it and that’s ‘We’re not going to let you make the changes you want,'” Bukele said.

In 2015, El Salvador was considered one of the most violent countries in the world, with a rate of 106 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2023, the National Civil Police counted 214 violent deaths, including those of 37 alleged gang members who died in alleged clashes with police and armed forces.

A report by Amnesty International indicates that, since the entry into force of the state of emergency and up to October, there have been 327 forced disappearances. For its part, the NGO Humanitarian Legal Aid assured that 218 Salvadorans “have died because of this torture or lack of medical care in prisons which are centers of torture and death.”

The gangs are involved in drug trafficking and organized crime, extorting money from traders and transport companies and killing those who refuse to pay.

The United States placed Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) on the list of criminal organizations in 2012. Three years later, the Salvadoran Supreme Court declared it a terrorist group, like the Barrio 18 gang.

Source: AP