The president of El Salvador, as a culmination of his most recent authoritarian onslaught, made clear this Sunday that he does not care that the media or the international community call him “dictator” and devoted himself for 80 minutes in the national chain to attack the critical voices inside and outside the country. “To the international media, do you know what? I am careful to be called dictator. I prefer that to kill Salvadorans on the street. When I grab the phone I see that they say: ‘dictator, dictator, dictator’. I prefer that to read: ‘murder, murder, murder.”
Surrounded by an imposing military and police operation, by the red carpet in front of thousands of Salvadorans and gave a speech instead of accountability that is obliged by law to give each year. This is the first speech that Bukele gives in his second presidential period, exceeding the five years established by the Constitution. This is a historic milestone in El Salvador, since the last president to re -elected was the dictator Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, who ruled from 1931 to 1944.
Bukele began his speech by emphasizing his safety results. He said that in the 25 years that the fearsome gangs operated in El Salvador, La, were responsible for more than 200,000 murders. However, he did not say where that information came from. “The transformation of El Salvador has been one of the fastest in modern history, but for us it has been slow. We have already achieved the impossible, but our work is just beginning. We had to fight for what other countries already take for granted, which is the possibility of building a future in their own terms,” he said.
The president continued to emphasize recent journalistic publications and pronouncements of human rights defenders who have denounced an escalation in authoritarianism. In May, at least 15 people were arrested, including transport businessmen, activists, human rights defenders and peasant leaders. Also more than a dozen journalists have had to leave the country for fear of reprisals.
Bukele’s authoritarian profile has established himself over his six years in power, having a fresh and modern speech to one more autocrat. However, he is not affecting his popularity yet. According to the latest survey published at the end of May by Cid Gallup, Bukele still has more than 80% population approval.
In his speech, Bukele referred to the Democracy Index published by the British media The Economist In February. In this, El Salvador appears in the 95th position of 167, with an assessment below 5, where 0 is nothing democratic and 10 is very democratic. The president, in that case, took the opportunity to compare with Spain. “It impresses me how countries with monarchies are better evaluated than us. A few years ago we had as a guest the king of Spain, a gentleman, by the way. And we respect the self -determination of the peoples who want a monarchy. But, in the end, it is the one who makes the index already convenience of who suits him,” he said. In the same index published by The EconomistSpain left in 21st position with a score of 8.13.
“Some say that before there was democracy in El Salvador and now not. Have you read that, right? But the truth is that before you could choose between the bad and the worst. The one who says that it is not because that was their source of income. The only ones who say it are the ones who do not know or those who lived from that,” he added.
The president said that the recent criticisms of his punitive measures and the persecution of activists are part of a “globalist agenda that is afraid of a domino effect.” “They say that we imprisoned human rights defenders, dissidents, opponents of the regime. I start thinking, how we can fight corruption if the entire opposition has immunity. Now some put the card of persecuted politicians. Being a journalist of the club allows them to violate the law without consequences,” he said.
“They are not there to defend causes, they are there to get impunity for corruption and crime for their members. They want to impose their narrative, which all the political parties of the world do,” he added.
Bukele also said that international journalistic coverage is a “coordinated attack” and that there are “external forces” that sponsor it. “They are not journalists, they are political activists who are doing business,” he said.
The president also took the opportunity to justify the approved on May 20, with which his government can decide which organization can work in El Salvador and which does not, in addition to charging with 30% taxes on their income to those who decides. “I think (the alleged foreign interference) should be prohibited in all countries of the world. But we will still allow it. The only thing we are going to ask is to pay their taxes,” he said.
In addition, he assured that humanitarian aid organizations will be exempt from that tax, but those that carry out “political” activities must pay. The law establishes that it will be the same president who defines the “concepts” of the law, that is, it will be he who will determine what he means to do politics or not.
