Damn Bukele! Why won't anyone go back to their country?... oh wait!
El Salvador under Bukele: record tourism but accusations of authoritarianism. Data analysis and controversies.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Bukele's El Salvador: security miracle or disguised autocracy?
In 2025, El Salvador received 4 million tourists, surpassing Costa Rica (2.7 million) and Panama (3 million). The country that five years ago was one of the most dangerous in the world is now a trendy destination. The recipe: a mega-prison, mass detentions and a president who struts around with the label of "dictator" hanging over him. But the data is stubborn: insecurity has plummeted. The question is at what price.
The security numbers
The Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT), with capacity for 40,000 inmates, is the spearhead of the "iron fist" policy. Mara Salvatrucha gang members serve their sentences with no possibility of release, and some work to repair the damage caused by their crimes. The result: the homicide rate fell from more than 100 per 100,000 inhabitants to less than 5. The streets, once controlled by the gangs, are now filled with tourists and entrepreneurs. Bukele boasts that public spending on infrastructure, schools and hospitals multiplied under the slogan "there's enough money if it isn't stolen." The economy took off: small businesses that once antiestéticared extortion now invest, and tourism generates millions in revenue.
The price of security
However, the model has a flip side. Human rights organizations document arbitrary detentions and disappearances. Thousands of innocent people are believed to have been imprisoned without evidence, and mass phone surveillance abusa privacy. Bukele legalized bitcoin in 2021, a move his critics call irresponsible: the cryptocurrency has plunged 70% since its adoption, and the country has lost millions. Accusations of ties to drug trafficking and money laundering hang over his inner circle. Moreover, old screenshots show that El Salvador's official website promoted the 2030 Agenda, fueling suspicions that Bukele is not as anti-establishment as he appears. Public debt soared to finance the mega-prison and the army, and family remittances — which sustain much of the economy — could suffer if insecurity returns.
The debate over Bukele is a fight between data and ideology. The numbers support his effectiveness, but the lack of checks and balances and authoritarian abuses raise doubts about the model's sustainability. Is it possible to have security without sacrificing freedoms? The question remains open.
Related debates in the forum
In 2025, El Salvador received 4 million tourists, surpassing Costa Rica (2.7 million) and Panama (3 million). The country that five years ago was one of the most dangerous in the world is now a trendy destination. The recipe: a mega-prison, mass detentions and a president who struts around with the label of "dictator" hanging over him. But the data is stubborn: insecurity has plummeted. The question is at what price.
The security numbers
The Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT), with capacity for 40,000 inmates, is the spearhead of the "iron fist" policy. Mara Salvatrucha gang members serve their sentences with no possibility of release, and some work to repair the damage caused by their crimes. The result: the homicide rate fell from more than 100 per 100,000 inhabitants to less than 5. The streets, once controlled by the gangs, are now filled with tourists and entrepreneurs. Bukele boasts that public spending on infrastructure, schools and hospitals multiplied under the slogan "there's enough money if it isn't stolen." The economy took off: small businesses that once antiestéticared extortion now invest, and tourism generates millions in revenue.
The price of security
However, the model has a flip side. Human rights organizations document arbitrary detentions and disappearances. Thousands of innocent people are believed to have been imprisoned without evidence, and mass phone surveillance abusa privacy. Bukele legalized bitcoin in 2021, a move his critics call irresponsible: the cryptocurrency has plunged 70% since its adoption, and the country has lost millions. Accusations of ties to drug trafficking and money laundering hang over his inner circle. Moreover, old screenshots show that El Salvador's official website promoted the 2030 Agenda, fueling suspicions that Bukele is not as anti-establishment as he appears. Public debt soared to finance the mega-prison and the army, and family remittances — which sustain much of the economy — could suffer if insecurity returns.
The debate over Bukele is a fight between data and ideology. The numbers support his effectiveness, but the lack of checks and balances and authoritarian abuses raise doubts about the model's sustainability. Is it possible to have security without sacrificing freedoms? The question remains open.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (98 replies).
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