Editorials & Other Articles

El Salvador has experienced democratic backsliding under Bukele, as he has dismantled democratic institutions, curtailed political and civil liberties, and attacked independent media and the political opposition.
Bukele has been described as an authoritarian and autocrat.
In February 2020, Bukele ordered 40 soldiers into the Legislative Assembly building to intimidate lawmakers into approving a US$109 million loan for the Territorial Control Plan.
After Nuevas Ideas won a supermajority in the 2021 legislative election, Bukele's allies in the legislature voted to replace the attorney general and all five justices of the Supreme Court of Justice's Constitutional Chamber.
Bukele has attacked journalists and news outlets on social media, drawing allegations of press censorship.
Before Bukele's presidency, he considered himself a member of the radical left, but Bukele has since not identified with any political ideology; political analysts have described him as a populist and a conservative.
Bukele has high job approval ratings in El Salvador and is popular throughout Latin America.