CIDOB Opinion 774, September 2023, focuses on Nayib Bukele's administration and its strategies to combat high crime rates in El Salvador. The report highlights three main points:
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Crime Reduction: Bukele’s strategies have significantly reduced crime rates, notably homicide rates, which are now among the lowest in El Salvador's history. This is attributed to his strong security strategy that includes military deployment, police presence, and the implementation of a state of exception.
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Impact on Democracy: Despite the reduction in crime, the state of exception has come at a significant cost to democracy. Bukele's administration has faced criticism for limiting constitutional rights, perpetrating human rights violations, and aggressively targeting opposition, media, judiciary, human rights defenders, and international organizations and foreign governments.
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Global Influence: Bukele's approach, with its emphasis on security, authoritarian tendencies, and use of social media, has garnered attention globally. It has influenced political discourse in other Latin American countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. These countries are considering adopting similar policies, even though their security contexts differ from El Salvador.
The report underscores the trade-off between effective crime reduction and democratic erosion, particularly in situations of extreme insecurity. It also suggests that this dynamic could potentially be replicated in countries facing similar challenges, highlighting the risk of increased authoritarianism and populism in Latin America.
