“He will win with 90%”: Nayib Bukele faces his re-election with enormous popularity in El Salvador

Nayib Bukele, the president of The Saviour, is on track to win re-election in this Sunday’s election. His policy against insecurity convinces the majority of the population.

Street vendors parade around Plaza Gerardo Barrios with the Metropolitan Cathedral in the background and in front the contrast with the modern and sumptuous building of the National Library, a gift from China completed only a few months ago.

THE The cleanliness is absolute, the pavement renovated and the military on almost every corner of this historic center of San Salvador, for which now, unlike just two years ago, Yes, tourists walk around.

“I support it”

Mauricio, a 73-year-old pensioner, is sitting in the square and clearly tells the correspondent what will happen in Sunday’s elections: “Why will President Bukele win? He will win with 90%. I support him” You are free here, it’s no longer like before when you couldn’t come here because crime would kill you right away.”

Erlinda, 48 years old, is one of the street vendors in this square. When asked if she will vote for Bukele, she replies: “Yes, of course, because here in El Salvador there is a great improvement. Safety above all else. “It used to be great.”

Saúl, 56, who works in public administration, passes by his side: “Well, he’s a good president. He came to remove all the bad dross that was in this country.

Bukele’s enormous popularity is visible at every step. Polls indicate a landslide victory which is demonstrated by taking time to find it a critical or minimally nuanced voice.

A weakened opposition

“It seems that yes, we have improved, but especially in the city. But in agriculture it has decreased, it no longer helps. As for schools, there is no improvement. The promises made with schools he did not fulfill them“, reports María, 40, who has a tortilla stand.

The opposition plays on Sunday so as not to be left in absolute irrelevance. Dissidence is a stronghold. Francisco and Ernesto are part of an association of retired workers. They welcome us to their headquarters a few blocks from the center.

“So this led to a series of abuses and arrests that made international headlines, rapes of people. The emergency regime for Bukele is his greatest achievement. For him because in other areas it was a total failure”, they explain.

“The public prosecutor will have the power to designate who the terrorists are and we will be in danger there. Why? Because if they call us terrorists, this trade union center, “They will come and enter here”they point out.

THE two traditional parties who for three decades controlled the country’s political scene, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front and the game Nationalist Republican Alliance, They have lost much of their support base despite their insistent talk of renewal.

They are unable to recover them or address Bukele’s popularity, which has generated a state of satisfaction in terms of citizen safety based on a collectively assumed premise: the ends can justify the means when the history of violence becomes unbearable.