Nayib Bukele celebrates a landslide victory in El Salvador, with preliminary results showing over 85% of the vote in his favor, guaranteeing him another term as president. Despite criticism of his authoritarian approach, notably with his territorial control plan, which significantly reduced crime rates but also raised concerns about respect for human rights, Bukele remains popular among Salvadorans.
Nayib Bukele on course for another five-year term in El Salvador
“Today, El Salvador broke all the records of any democracy in the history of the world!” These were the words of Nayib Bukele, the outgoing President of El Salvador, speaking from the balcony of the National Palace.
Although the final results have not yet been published, Nayib Bukele celebrated his victory in front of the crowd, which was a priori confirmed by his own party’s data showing a large lead over the other candidates with over 85% of the vote in his favor.
De acuerdo a nuestros números, hemos ganado la elección presidencial con más del 85% de los votos y un mínimo de 58 de 60 diputados de la Asamblea.
El record en toda la historia democrática del mundo.
Nos vemos a las 9pm frente al Palacio Nacional.
Dios bendiga a El Salvador.
– Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 5, 2024
“According to our figures, we won the presidential election with over 85% of the vote and a minimum of 58 of the 60 deputies in the Assembly. The record in all the world’s democratic history. Meet at 9pm in front of the National Palace. God bless El Salvador. “
According to data available from official sources, “Nouvelles Idées”, Nayib Bukele’s political party, is indeed well ahead:
Vote distribution for El Salvador’s presidential election
The Gallup Organization, which published an overview of the results on X, claimed that “Nayib Bukele is re-elected president in El Salvador,” with 87% of the vote in his favor.
Known for his security policies, which earn him as many critics as supporters, Nayib Bukele is also the man who signed the law granting Bitcoin legal tender status. Since then, the king of crypto-currencies has sat on a par with the US dollar, adopted by the Central American country in 2001.
Pacification of the country, the main concern of Salvadorans
Criticized for the authoritarian turn El Salvador has taken, earning him the nickname of “the world’s coolest dictator”, Nayib Bukele nonetheless enjoys strong popularity among Salvadoran citizens.
A turning point attributed to the policy introduced in 2019 via a “territorial control plan”, aimed at entrusting the security of certain territories plagued by local gangs to the country’s army. A decision that saw El Salvador’s homicide rate fall from 51 per 100,000 people in 2018 to just 2.5 in 2023, lower than in the United States. It also earned him record popularity, with 92% of the population in favor that year.
These measures placed El Salvador among the countries with the highest incarceration rates in the world, with thousands of innocent people imprisoned but since released. Indeed, following a wave of assassinations in March 2022, Nayib Bukele decreed an exceptional regime authorizing arrests without a judicial warrant, which was often renewed.
Following a wave of assassinations in March 2022, Nayib Bukele decreed an exceptional regime authorizing arrests without a judicial warrant, which was often renewed.
In terms of Bitcoin adoption, the picture in El Salvador is rather mixed. We recently revealed that only 12% of Salvadorans would have used BTC in 2023 to pay for goods and services in the country. This is a significant drop, since the figure was 24.4% the previous year, i.e. more than double.
According to one study, 25.3% of Salvadorans believe that the country’s economy has improved as a result of the decline in delinquency, while only 0.5% think this can be attributed to the legalization of Bitcoin.
