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Latin America
Related: About this forumEl Salvador's millennial president is a man with one vision: Power
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.(Salvador Melendez / Associated Press)
By KATE LINTHICUMSTAFF WRITER
MAY 16, 2021 4 AM PT
SAN SALVADOR A few days after he led a coup, the president of El Salvador uploaded a video onto TikTok of him gliding in a military vehicle while hundreds of soldiers salute.
Then comes the soundtrack: A booming reggaeton song called Bichota" slang for big shot.
The video irreverent, rooted in pop culture and projecting brazen strength has been viewed 2.6 million times and is textbook Nayib Bukele, a former marketing executive who has deftly used social media and unbridled confidence to become, at 39, one of the most popular leaders in the world.
Since he took office two years ago on a pledge to fight gangs, squash corruption and break with the countrys entrenched political parties, Bukeles approval ratings have hovered around 90%, practically unheard of in politics. That has held steady even as he has veered toward autocracy, attacking the press and civil society and occupying the nations Legislative Assembly with troops last year after lawmakers refused to approve an anti-crime spending bill.
n February, Bukeles party swept midterm elections. On May 1, the day the countrys new legislature was sworn in, his supporters moved to oust his critics on the Supreme Court and in the attorney generals office an illegal power grab that political scientists have called a self-coup.
More:
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-05-16/nayib-bukele-the-most-popular-president-in-the-world-is-a-man-with-one-ideology-power
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El Salvador's millennial president is a man with one vision: Power (Original Post)
Judi Lynn
May 2021
OP
Former leftist, now center-right, believes in shutting down any checks on his power...
regnaD kciN
May 2021
#1
regnaD kciN
(26,044 posts)1. Former leftist, now center-right, believes in shutting down any checks on his power...
...yeah, this normally doesn't end well.
stopdiggin
(11,300 posts)2. autocrats -- here we come!
we now have a well traveled road-map, and playbook.
When a towering (near obscene) ego becomes an attractive feature to a large swath (male and female) of the population ....