"Breaking News: Bukele's Shocking Declaration Ahead of El Salvador Election Results!"
feb 5
5 min de lectura
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28
SAN SALVADOR (AP) — The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, declared himself the winner of the presidential elections on Sunday, even though no official results had been published yet, amid questions regarding the constitutional prohibition of immediate reelection.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Salvadoran president claimed victory in the presidential elections on Sunday, despite no official results being published and despite constitutional questions regarding immediate reelection.
In his post, Bukele asserted that he had secured over 85% of the vote, according to his own numbers, ensuring 58 out of 60 seats in the Assembly, a pivotal point in maintaining the state of exception and his tough-on-crime policy against gangs.
Preliminary official results began to be published nearly two hours later, showing a significant lead for the president's party, Nuevas Ideas. With 31.49% of the vote counted, Nuevas Ideas had nearly 1.3 million votes, followed by the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front with 110,244 votes.
"Thank you, El Salvador. Today, El Salvador has broken all records of all democracies in the history of the world," proclaimed Bukele later that night from the National Palace, amidst cheers from his supporters on the streets. "It would be the first time in a country that a single party exists in a fully democratic system. The entire opposition, together, would be pulverized," he boasted, anticipating that Nuevas Ideas would secure 58 out of 60 seats in the Assembly, "for now."
Bukele sought to renew his mandate for another five years, until 2029, and reaffirm his security strategy despite criticism.
"The Salvadoran people have spoken, and what did they say? That they want to continue on this path," defended Bukele.
In a celebratory atmosphere, thousands gathered in the main square of the Salvadoran capital with flags, shirts, and even posters featuring the president.
Delya Rodríguez, 31, expressed excitement about the results. "I consider myself a fan of Bukele. This is the first time I've been a fan of a party," said the woman who owns a chicken farm and believes that traditional parties have never done anything for people like her.
Regarding criticisms of Bukele, he tackled them head-on: "He is a unique and different president in history. It is historic."
Hours earlier, after voting accompanied by his wife, the president defended his tough-on-crime policy and urged his supporters to back his project to not lose a single seat in the Assembly, thus maintaining "the tool that has worked for us," referring to the state of exception in which the country has remained for almost two years.
His popularity is bolstered by the change in the security environment, which according to public opinion polls, is being experienced in the Central American country. In the past, El Salvador was considered one of the most violent in the world.
In response to questions from journalists, he rejected external criticisms of his security model and defended that El Salvador is no longer the murder capital of the world and "we have not achieved this with a foreign recipe, but with the state of exception."
According to national surveys prior to the vote, more than 80% of the population believed that the security situation in El Salvador had improved, and as some voters recounted, no one wants the gangs to regain control.
"We need to continue changing, transforming. We have lived through very difficult stages of life, to be honest. As a citizen, I have lived through stages of war, and with this situation we live with the gangs... Now we have a great opportunity for our country. I want the coming generations to live in a better world," said José Dionisio Serrano, 60, proud to be the first in line at a polling station, in an area previously controlled by gangs.
Serrano, a soccer coach, said he was going to choose Bukele and his party Nuevas Ideas. He has lived in the Mejicanos area most of his life, but had to flee a few years ago when Barrio 18 gang members threatened and shot him in the foot. He still fears calling it by its name; that gang is "the one with the numbers" for him.
Regarding criticisms of Bukele regarding the prohibited reelection according to the Constitution, he responded: "They are entrenched laws, laws made by the same man. But what the people really want is something else."
The observer delegation from the Organization of American States (OAS), led by former Panamanian Vice President Isabel de Saint Malo, told journalists that the elections were conducted calmly.
However, there were reported minor incidents in different parts of the country: a man was expelled from a polling station where he intended to vote in a visibly intoxicated state, and a woman was detained by authorities for destroying ballot papers.
At one of the polling stations in the capital San Salvador, another man was escorted out after giving a speech against Bukele, pointing out the articles of the Constitution that prohibit immediate reelection.
Etelvina Salmerón said she was ready to fulfill her duty. "I've been here since six in the morning, I hope they open on time, there are always problems, but I won't leave until they allow me to vote," said Salmerón, who arrived with her wife and two of her children.
For almost two years, the country has been under a state of exception renewed monthly at Bukele's request in Congress, which involves the suspension of fundamental citizen rights such as the right to a lawyer or the right to be informed of the reasons for detention.
Under this context, more than 76,000 people have been imprisoned — 90% are without judicial sentences — and although this strategy has been widely criticized by human rights organizations, it constitutes the foundation of the tough-on-crime policy that Bukele proposed to combat crime and gangs in his last years in office.
Facing Bukele were rivals Manuel "El Chino" Flores of the FMLN; Joel Sánchez, of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena); Luis Parada, of Nuestro Tiempo; Javier Renderos, of Fuerza Solidara; and Marina Murillo, of the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity.
Political scientist Álvaro Artiga, professor of Political Science at the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA), run by Jesuits, commented that "there is a kind of cult of the ruler everywhere."
Researcher Joao Picardo, from Francisco Gavidia University (UFG), also highlighted the political weight of the president and affirmed that "there is a disconnection between the people and political parties as a political structure." Salvadorans, he indicated, have "connected more with the figure of the president."
Another voter, José Salvador Torres, defended being satisfied with the country's situation. "I already voted, to fulfill, I am leaving calmly to wait for the results, although we all know who is going to win," said Torres, 45, a construction worker who before voting said, "I come to vote for my president."