Nayib Bukele Re-elected as President of El Salvador in Landslide Win
President Nayib Bukele secured a thumping victory in El Salvador's elections claiming to have attained more than 85% of the vote. Provisional results (70% of votes tallied) show Bukele winning 83% support and 7% for nearest rival.
- "In a speech to supporters Sunday night from a balcony at the national palace, Bukele said the opposition had been “pulverized”, and that his party had also won 58 of the 60 seats in congress," reported Bloomberg.
"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 said.
- "Few doubted the outcome of the elections. Polls showed most voters appear set to reward Bukele for decimating the crime groups that made life intolerable in El Salvador and fueled waves of migration to the United States," wrote Reuters.
"Once considered the world’s murder capital, El Salvador saw killings fall to historic lows last year, official figures show. The number of Salvadorans caught crossing the US border fell by more than a third in fiscal year 2023, according to US Customs and Border Protection."
- Per Bloomberg, "El Salvador has now jailed 1.6% of its population, the world’s highest incarceration rate. Some rights groups accuse the government of violating due process and manipulating crime data, and have also criticized Bukele’s bid for reelection."
