Law vs. Order: The Uncanny Tension Between Democracy and Safety in El Salvador

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MICHAEL SCIME: On Feb. 4, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele won re-election in a landslide, securing 85% of the vote, a huge margin for any head-of-state. However, this was not supposed to happen. 

At least, not according to the El Salvador constitution, which forbids any president from running for another consecutive term. Bukele got around that after his party, Nuevas Ideas, held a supermajority in the legislature and allowed him to replace judges on the Supreme Court with his own,  these judges then re-interpreting the constitution and allowing him to run again. 

This was not the first time he violated the country’s constitution. For the past two years, El Salvador has been in a state-of-emergency which Bukele called for after a crime surge in 2022. The declaration has allowed the government to throw thousands in jail, many innocent, without due process. So why did he win re-election by such a large margin? 

The crime rate in El Salvador has dropped tremendously since Bukele declared a state-of-emergency, with the homicide rate decreasing by 70% in 2023. These are record numbers for a country that was once named the most violent in the Western Hemisphere. With the impending and likely threat of  being arrested, gangs like MS13 and Barrio 18 that once ran the country are being broken up. 

With the crime rate down, the quality of life for Salvadorans has greatly increased. Citizens are now able to take leisurely strolls into neighborhoods that they used to never step foot in. Even those who have had innocent relatives arrested for no reason, support Bukele, seeing their loved ones’ arrests as mere consequences they must face for the good of the nation. 

Nobody is denying that Bukele’s behavior is anti-Democratic. Even the Vice President, Félix Ulloa, has acknowledged that the current government is “eliminating [democracy].” But in a country where “democracy” priorly meant gang-controlled streets and a corrupted government, nobody seems to care. 

Despite claiming threats on U.S. democracy, the Biden administration has also appeared apathetic, remaining relatively silent on the even more tangible threats seen in Latin America. This is because they too are benefitting from Bukele’s arrests. The New York Times reported that “apprehensions of Salvadorans crossing the US border dropped by about a third during the last fiscal year.” With El Salvador safer, less people feel a reason to leave. The influx of migrants at the Southern border is causing more problems for the administration each day, so it’s no surprise they would ignore a situation that gets these numbers down and allows them to have a bit more control. 

While the low crime rate is positive, El Salvador is on a dangerous path that they must get off of before it is too late. The police state currently in practice removes civil liberties guaranteed to all people, and harms innocents. The chances of Bukele remaining this popular for the long-run are low. What happens when more people start to speak out against him? Who’s to say he will not throw them in jail, and continue to run for re-election, unstoppable due to the barriers they have allowed him to remove? 

The U.S. must speak out sooner rather than later. Any leader who is seen as a messiah is dangerous, and Bukele is already influencing other potential leaders in places like Ecuador. Before long, all of Latin America will be drinking the kool-aid. 

In most cases, law and order go hand-in-hand. A just democracy means a civil, ordered nation. However, in the case of El Salvador, order has emerged from an anti-democratic regime. The fact of the matter is that the Latin American country was rather lawless before, with gangs roaming the streets and bribery a norm. The U.S. must push for an order in accordance with law. There is a world where due process meets safety. 

Michael Scime is a Freshman writer for On The Record. He also writers for The Hoya and is involved in political organizations on campus such as Georgetown Political Strategy.