Bukele’s Presidency: Dismantling Gang Violence for the Poor

Historically called the murder capital of the world, El Salvador no longer holds the highest global homicide rate. Even after the end of its civil war from 1979-1992, Salvadorans have struggled to find safety from the domination of gang violence. Many leaders have attempted to reduce the gangs’ power to little avail. Yet, El Salvador’s current and most popular President, Nayib Bukele, has made immense strides to dismantle the gangs’ rule.

My mother, Carmen, grew up in Coloñia Las Palmas in San Salvador. She came one of the poorest villages in all of El Salvador. In 1982, she immigrated to the United States, fleeing the war and seeking economic opportunity. For more than thirty years, Carmen never visited her hometown. She feared the gang members who controlled her neighborhood. That is, until she returned to her village a few months ago. I decided to ask her a few questions about her experience.

 Amiel: What was it like returning to your home?

Carmen: It was a beautiful experience. I finally felt safe in what used to be my home.

Amiel: What changed in your experience to finally come back?

Carmen: Everything Bukele has done has helped me return. He has worked hard to rid El Salvador of corruption and the violent gang members.

Throughout Bukele’s Presidency, Carmen has boasted about his accomplishments. She remembers talking to her family about what life was like before Bukele.

Carmen: Leaving the village, a gang member would make us pay one or two US dollars as a fee. When we’d return, the same fee was charged. The gang members extorted the poor for the little they owned. I also remember talking to my family about the bus system. At the bus stop, the bus drivers would charge whatever they wanted for us to board. Sometimes during the bus ride, gang members would pull us over. They’d rob the bus driver and all the passengers. They’d kill us if we didn’t comply.

 Gang violence has rampaged through El Salvador since the 1990s. During the civil war, thousands of refugees fled to the United States. Many traveled to Los Angeles, where Salvadorans banded together to protect each other. However, confrontations from street gangs and traumatic memories of the war fueled the creation of two notorious gangs, MS-13 and Barrio-18.

During Bill Clinton’s presidency, the United States began deporting many Salvadorans back to El Salvador. In doing so, the deportees brought their gang affiliations with them. Without a stable government in post-war El Salvador, the gangs became powerful. Murder, sexual assault and extortion became common. El Salvador’s citizenry, including my own family, no longer felt safe in their neighborhoods.

Bukele became president in 2019 in democratic elections. Founding the political party Nuevas Ideas, he ran an anti-corruption campaign, in which he promised to reduce crime. He preached the mano dura (iron fist) political tactic, where he decided to place the safety of his citizens as the number one priority.

Since March 2022, President Nayib Bukele has detained nearly two percent of El Salvador’s adult population. He has instituted a “state of exception,” in which Salvadorans have been arrested without warrants and imprisoned without trial. Surprisingly, even when ruling under martial law, Bukele gained support from the people, my mother among them.

 Amiel: What is your opinion of Bukele and his mano dura tactics?

Carmen:  He is an angel of El Salvador for the poor and the working class. He is working hard for people who have been suffering for decades.

In response to Bukele’s political tactics, international organizations have spoken against his treatment of the gang members and civilians. Human Rights Watch stated that “mass arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of ill-treatment against detainees, deaths in custody, and abuse-ridden prosecutions” characterize the prisons. Cells are overcrowded. Food is rationed. Yet, much of the Salvadoran population support these policies. The gangs violated their rights for decades. Don’t they deserve freedom?

 Amiel: Does it worry you that people call Bukele a human rights abuser because of the prisons?

Carmen: Where were the people who cared about human rights violations when we were getting murdered every day? Bukele hasn’t done anything for us not to trust him, so I believe it’s okay for him to lead the country on his own terms.

Bukele ensured that his degrading prisons would devastate the morale and spirit of the gang members. He also guaranteed to the freely walking gang members that their brothers’ punishments would be worse if violence ensued. Bukele warned at a press conference in April 2022, “there are rumors out there that you want to start taking revenge on random, honest people. Do that and there will not be not one meal time in prisons. Let’s see how long your homeboys last inside.”

Evidently, Bukele’s actions have inflated his power. What once was a democratically-elected President seems to be turning into an authoritative autocrat. Although his presidency has helped Salvadorans feel a sense of safety living in their communities, Bukele’s attack on gang violence raises a fundamental question. Is Bukele being a strong leader for his people? Or is he risking democracy by relinquishing human rights and constitutional law?

Many scholars argue that Bukele’s actions may soon cause extreme revolt. In fact, one need only look at Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela to understand the effects of extremely violent suppression. José Cruz, director of research at Florida International University’s Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, says that when extreme police and military power are used in corrupt judicial systems, violence ensues from the people wearing badges and those with masks and guns on the other side. Through these revolts, the people are the ones who suffer in the end.

 However, many Salvadorans believe in Bukele’s vision of the future. They believe that he is doing what is necessary for the greater good of the people. If he must take away the rights of people who have terrorized the majority of the country, Salvadorans support it. If he is leading the efforts of the government to help the poor, Salvadorans support it. Like my mother, they believe in Bukele’s leadership and vision of El Salvador.

Amiel: What does the future of El Salvador look like to you?

Carmen: It looks bright. It looks like a place where people feel safe and happy to be home. It’s a place where people can return to their home.