After El Salvador president Nayib Bukele removed presidential term limits and created a system of indefinite re-election, there were reduced tensions with the U.S. In his home country, Bukele has gained broad acceptance among the population for his crackdown on gang violence and digital reforms, but has drawn significant backlash from the U.S. for consolidating their power and removing Supreme Court judges. Washington followed up sanctions, suspended aid to El Salvador, and condemned attacks on democratic institutions.
His Bitcoin project warranted significant interpretations from the standpoint of the U.S. and international financial institutions, and Bucale was downgraded as “the clown.” Bukele would simply turn around and dismiss as “hypocrisy” and “interference” the cherry-picked aggression (on an authoritarian basis) of the United States, actively employing versions of nationalist rhetoric to gain domestic support. The reality is that more than 2 million Salvadorans reside in the U.S. and collectively send billions of immersive rutits back home. Washington will probably have to deal with the consequences of engaging with Bukele but through the sanction of authoritarianism.
