Nayib Bukele, or president of El Salvador
The president of El Salvador and self -proclaimed “Dictator Mais cool From the world ”, visit President Trump at the White House on Monday. He is the first Latin American leader to receive an official invitation to the Oval Office since Trump took office.
The self-proclaimed ”, Nayib Bukele, He is one of Trump’s most crucial regional allies-and no one has embraced his anti-immigration policies as enthusiastically as the Salvadoran President.
With the support of Bukele, in recent weeks the Trump administration arrested and deported to El Salvador Hundreds of alleged members of Venezuelan gangs and Salvadoran.
Last month, the inaugural deportation flight to El Salvador and the transfer to the famous were carefully choreographed and filmed in a that Bukele shared on social networks.
Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable).
The United States will pay a very low fee for them,…
– Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele)
Since then, More deportation flights – The last of which on Sunday – although questions are raised about the lack of transparency, the legality of the process and denials of many of the detainees that have any gang connections.
So what do we know about Bukele and why is he so well welcomed by the Trump administration and was invited to the White House?
The rise of the Bukele doctrine
Bukele was elected president for the first time in 2019 after a campaign focused on combat to corruption. In 2022, he declared a state of emergency to combat the gang crime and High homicide rates.
Under this law, which remains in force, Bukele arrested about 85,000 people. According to, only 1,000 of the detainees were convicted of crimes, and there will be Many innocent people allegedly incarcerated.
“Under Bukele, El Salvador became the latest autocracy in the Americas“ Noah Bullock, Executive Director of, an NGO Salvadorenha of Human Rights.
Despite widely convicted of human rights abusesmany – including Donald Trump – We admire Bukele for having managed, in a country that had for years one of the highest homicide rates in the worldreduce the number of homicides from over 2,000 in 2019 to only 114 last year.
Last week, the US State Travel Security Department of El Salvador to the very coveted level 1 on a scale with four levels of security – Use normal precautions / Keep care added / reconside your trip / Do not travel.
“Gang activity has decreased in the last three years,” notes the warning about El Salvador. The gesture did not go unnoticed by Bukele, who repeatedly shared the news on Twitter.
Just one Small handful of Latin American countries It has level 1 on this list, in which, and is above the level 2 travel classification recommended for countries such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and France.
“Politicians throughout America seeking quick solutions to violence from organized crime They are trying to use Bukele’s speech“, it says Juanita Goebertus estradaDirector of the Division of the Americas at HRW.
All of this helped reinforce its home popularity. The president enjoys up to 80% approval and won its reelection in 2024 by a large margin. Although Bullock note that many are afraid of publicly opposing him.
A magazine alliance
Among the many BUKELE REGIONAL FANS There are the Republicans Maga. In June 2024, Donald Trump Jr. watched Bukele’s second term, and Maga’s faithful applauded him when he spoke at the conservative political action conference in Washington in February last year.
Trump administration also has nearby diplomatic ties with El Salvador. Both the Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the Secretary of Internal Security Kristi calls They visited the country on their first trips abroad.
“El Salvador is the only countryat least in Central America, which demonstrated 100% willingness to do everything the United States required“, These Ana María Méndez DardónDirector for Central America in the Washington Office for Latin America.
This arrangement remained more notoriously to send Venezuelan and Salvadoran migrants, accused of gang affiliation, to the infamous mega-prison of Bukele, the terrorist confinement center, or Cecot.
Deportations have been widely convicted and continue to be strongly scrutinized in the US courts. HRW calls them “forced disappearances” to a center “known for their abusive conditions” – also called Gulag tropical.
What is at stake in the White House?
At the meeting on Monday, the two leaders are expected to discuss a greater migration cooperationrates and potential detention in El Salvador of “dangerous” American criminals.
“It would be heinous violent criminals who repeatedly violated the laws of our nation, and they are violent repeat offenders on American streets,” he said Karoline LeavittTrump’s Secretary of Press, who also clarified that the viability and legality of the policy are yet to determine.
Donald Trump’s strategy of deportation from Migantes to El Salvador received a Mixed Response of the Supreme Courtwhich on April 7 allowed more deportations under the 1798 law, but determined that the deported ones must have right to a judicial process.
The Court also ordered management to “facilitate” the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garciaa father of three children wrongly deported to El Salvador – Despite having received protection of a judge, who considered that he could face gang violence in Salvadorenha prison.
On Sunday, the US Department of Justice said the courts They did not have “authority” to force El Salvador to release Vugo Garcia. That It is up to the president“As the only agency of the federal government in the field of international relations.”
It now remains to know what will make the dictator more cool from the world.
