Countering El Salvador’s Democratic Backsliding
Americas QuarterlyMar 23, 2023
According to a 107-page report released Monday by the human rights organization Cristosal, 153 people have died in custody after being arrested as part of President Nayib Bukele's crackdown on criminal gangs.
None of the dead had reportedly been convicted of the crime they were accused of. Four of the deceased were women, and the rest were men.
In contrast with previous administrations, Bukele's crackdown on the country's notorious gangs has been highly successful, putting more than 60K dangerous criminals behind bars and dramatically slashing the murder rate that has plagued the nation for decades. Other nations in Latin America should take note of his wildly successful law and order policies, which have widespread approval with the voting public.
Bukele's all-out war on criminal organizations has taken a terrible toll on democracy and human rights. Thousands of innocent people have been arrested on very loose grounds, as the rise in safety comes at the expense of grave human rights abuses. Bukele has consolidated his power to near-dictatorial levels — if he's let off the hook for his abuses, then any politician could be free from scrutiny.