
The “World’s Coolest Dictator” Visited the White House
In Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele, Donald Trump sees a far-right authoritarian who has something he doesn’t: an actual popular mandate.
Mneesha Gellman is an associate professor of political science in the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies at Emerson College and the director of the Emerson Prison Initiative.
In Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele, Donald Trump sees a far-right authoritarian who has something he doesn’t: an actual popular mandate.
Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele will extend the state of exception that has earned the country the world’s highest incarceration rate. Gang violence has been traded for arbitrary arrest and detention — with working-class people bearing the brunt.
El Salvador’s authoritarian president Nayib Bukele is expected to win reelection on Sunday in defiance of the country’s constitution. His crackdown on press freedom has already sent El Salvador’s leading independent news outlet into exile.