El Salvador re-elects Bukele with 87% of the vote

In third place is Joel Sanchez, the candidate of the traditional right, represented by the Nationalist Republican Alliance Party (ARENA), who received 4% of the vote. The 2024 election marks the worst electoral performance in the history of both the parties that have ruled since the 1990s. Low percentages of votes included Luis Parada of the young Nuestro Tiempo party with 1.6% and Marina, finally in first place. Murillo of the Fraternidad Patriota Salvadorena party and José Javier Renderos of Fuerza Solidaria, both with 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. There has been huge voting in foreign countries also.

Moreover, NI will rule with undisputed dominance in the Legislative Assembly. Of the 60 delegates, it is highly likely that 58 of them belong to Nuevas Ideas, while only 2 of them are in the opposition. Something like this has never been seen before in Salvador’s electoral history., Trends indicate that, apart from Nuevas Ideas, only two other parties will be represented in Parliament, although they will be numerically irrelevant.

The vote steamroller confirmed what everyone already knew; Bukele has been re-elected president of the nation, despite apparent constitutional hurdles With the cooperation of all government institutions His party and personality have amassed a monopoly – from the courts and prosecutors’ offices to the Parliament – ​​and the “blessing” of millions of Salvadorans (90% according to the latest CID Gallup poll) who want him at the helm for four more years. , without caring about the rules they have to bend to complete their missions.

“This election should be measured not by numbers, but by messages.” What signals are we sending to the world? “It’s a reward for the government, a signal that good governments are rewarded (…) and it’s also a signal that if you’re like Bukele and he did what he did, you get votes. wave and will be rewarded with widespread popularity,” Roy Campos, director of the consulting firm Mitowski, said during an interview on local channel C10. Similarly, Fiorella Pecorini, country director of CID Gallup, pointed out that “the basic needs of voters Listening guarantees victory” and emphasizes that “Bukeleism is a case study that has become an example for different Latin American countries.” . For his part, analyst Walter Araújo suggests that “Bukele Understood the urgency of a problem, security, and they solved it immediately. Today’s results are a response to that specific action.

Days without unexpected events?

In her last statements to the press, Isabelle de Saint Malo, head of the electoral mission of the Organization of American States (OAS), assured that election day was taking place “normally”. The mission has deployed 92 observers throughout Salvadoran territory. Those responsible for polling stations on international soil, such as Boston (United States), London (England) and Guatemala City (Guatemala), have confirmed that the elections are being held peacefully in their centers.

The second is the version of some members of the Salvadoran opposition and local media. The FMLN party candidate has denounced in Factum magazine a strategy of “fraud with electronic voting in the United States”. According to the candidate, “Everything is designed to use voter impersonation abroad on American soil.” Opponents claim the Supreme Electoral Tribunal is also part of the “fraud”. ARENA president Carlos Saade condemned the irregularities. For their part, local media such as Mala Yerba and Revista Alimentos have condemned the “obstruction” of journalistic practice by NI supporters.

consolidation of a dictator

Bukele’s victory has consolidated the nation’s total power as a 21st-century autocratic ruler who is admired and supported by the public. “Absolute is not an opinion. “That’s a fact,” say analysts advised before the polls closed. The President ran for an unconstitutional re-election, which was enabled by a ruling of the Constitutional Chamber – which Bukele himself appointed along with like-minded magistrates – which created a new interpretation of the law that barred his re-election, Which paved his way. Second term which will end in 2029.

However, the recipe for his re-election had already been prepared. Since he took power in 2019. Some facts prove this, such as his emergence with the military within the Salvadoran Congress or his removal of attorneys general and constitutional magistrates inconvenient to Bukeleism, in addition to governing from 2022 under a state of exception. According to investigations published by Salvadoran media such as El Faro and complaints by international organizations such as Amnesty International, it has been able to carry out its territorial planning plan without hindrance, even if it involves human rights violations and negotiations with some gang groups. ,

The truth is that Bukele has installed himself in power, despite criticism of authoritarianism and the accumulation of power, an attack on the country’s democracy and complaints of human rights violations and an insistence on the freedom of the Salvadoran press. With stratospheric numbers, the country will roam at will, at least until 2029, when their mandate ends. After that nothing is clear. Because once the Constitution is violated, it can be violated two, three or four times more.