El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Is Flirting With Fascism
Nayib Bukele has worked hard during his presidency to cultivate an image as a Silicon Valley–style disrupter fighting corruption. But his recent use of the Salvadoran military to physically occupy the national legislature shows he's unafraid to use authoritarian tactics reminiscent of the country's brutal right-wing dictatorship.
General view of soldiers from the Salvadoran army observing President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele during the incorporation ceremony of the new members of the Salvadorian Armed Forces at Plaza Barrios on February 18, 2020 in San Salvador, El Salvador. Camilo Feedman / Getty
On Sunday, February 9, armed soldiers in full camouflage entered the Salvadoran legislature. They fanned out across the half-empty chambers, stationing themselves behind startled deputies and lining the hallways. Outside, snipers perched atop government buildings. President Nayib Bukele marched into the occupied chambers and took his seat in the Assembly President’s chair. “Now I think it’s quite clear who has control of the situation,” he said.
The chilling spectacle recalled the darkest days of Salvadoran military dictatorship, and marked a stark contrast to Bukele’s carefully cultivated image as a youthful, post-ideological reformer. The ease with which the so-called millennial president demolished the fragile institutional consensus of the 1992 Peace Accords that ended the twelve-year civil war only confirmed what Bukele’s critics have long warned: the president is flirting with fascism.
The Crisis
The constitutional crisis began on February 6, following lawmaker’s reticence to approve a $109 million international loan requested by the Bukele administration for security equipment. Bukele, who campaigned on the slogan “There’s enough money when nobody steals,” claimed the funds were necessary for the implementation of “Phase Three” of the government’s “Territorial Control Plan” against gang violence.
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