El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has been sworn in for a second five-year term.
Bukele took the oath of office on Saturday in the capital San Salvador, in the presence of guests such as Spanish King Felipe VI and Argentine President Javier Milei.
“We have finally overcome fear and are a truly free country,” the 42-year-old said afterwards in a speech on the balcony of the National Palace.
Bukele won the presidential election on February 4 with just under 83% of the vote. In simultaneous parliamentary elections, his Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) party won 54 out of 60 seats.
His successful but controversial crackdown on criminal gangs that had terrorized the Central American country for decades was seen as key to his electoral success. As crime dropped, Bukele’s popularity soared.
But critics warn of an increasingly authoritarian turn from the former mayor of San Salvador, who has been president since 2019.
They point to undemocratic policies such as restrictions on civil rights, arbitrary arrests and the erosion of the separation of powers.
Bukele often makes fun of his critics and has sometimes described himself as the “Coolest Dictator in the World” in his profile on X.
The people of El Salvador, the smallest Central American country, have been living under a state of emergency for almost two years. A number of fundamental rights, such as freedom of assembly, are limited.
Since then, more than 75,000 suspected gang members have been arrested, most on suspicion alone and without access to a lawyer. Videos of thousands of tattooed gangsters being herded into a new maximum security prison wearing only white underpants have gone viral.
El Salvador’s constitution effectively prohibits the re-election of the president for consecutive terms. However, constitutional judges loyal to the government approved Bukele’s candidacy for a second five-year term.
In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to introduce the digital currency Bitcoin as legal tender.
