Phoenix68
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- Mar 12, 2022
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El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, who has described himself as the "World's Coolest Dictator," has in less than five years transformed El Salvador from a country infamous for its record on murder and gangs to a nation with one of the lowest homicide rates in the Americas.
That record means he is all but certain to be re-elected in a presidential election on Sunday for another five-year term - despite a constitutional bar on immediate re-election, voter worries about the economy, and criticism of his draconian crackdown on civil and human rights.
Under him, more than 2% of the adult population of the Central American country is behind bars and several constitutional rights have been shelved, prompting critics to call him a modern day autocrat.
But Salvadorans weary of years of gang violence can live in ways unimaginable before.
Rights groups have denounced the arbitrary arrests of innocent people, torture, and deaths of prisoners in custody.
"They can take anyone at any time and do whatever they want," said Laura, a teacher who declined to give her last name for fear of reprisal. "This isn't democracy."
Still, she said she planned to vote for Bukele, adding that for her there were "no good options."
![benjamin_franklin_quote_by_samuel81-d5mu9s8[1].jpg](https://www.houseofpolitics.com/data/attachments/10/10838-a4ac4562cc6aa939f53a5435373f4e70.jpg "benjamin_franklin_quote_by_samuel81-d5mu9s8[1].jpg")
That record means he is all but certain to be re-elected in a presidential election on Sunday for another five-year term - despite a constitutional bar on immediate re-election, voter worries about the economy, and criticism of his draconian crackdown on civil and human rights.
Under him, more than 2% of the adult population of the Central American country is behind bars and several constitutional rights have been shelved, prompting critics to call him a modern day autocrat.
But Salvadorans weary of years of gang violence can live in ways unimaginable before.
Rights groups have denounced the arbitrary arrests of innocent people, torture, and deaths of prisoners in custody.
"They can take anyone at any time and do whatever they want," said Laura, a teacher who declined to give her last name for fear of reprisal. "This isn't democracy."
Still, she said she planned to vote for Bukele, adding that for her there were "no good options."
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![076069c0-ad59-4ea6-bb60-d8bf007b75cf-Image_from_iOS_7[1].jpg](https://www.houseofpolitics.com/data/attachments/10/10839-00dfe043f3cee0db59108f62394da2ee.jpg "076069c0-ad59-4ea6-bb60-d8bf007b75cf-Image_from_iOS_7[1].jpg")
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