El Salvador Celebrates Likely Reelection Of ‘World’s Coolest Dictator’

President Nayib Bukele is almost certainly headed for a second five-year term.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Salvadorans packed the capital’s central square Sunday evening to celebrate the expected reelection of Nayib Bukele as president even before any official results were announced.

With soaring approval ratings and virtually no competition, Nayib Bukele was almost certainly headed for a second 5-year term as president. After voting, he jousted with reporters, asserting that the election’s results would serve as a “referendum” on his administration.

Two hours after polling places closed, and without any official returns announced, Bukele said on the platform X that “according to our numbers” he had won. Preliminary official results were not expected before late Sunday.

Many voters expressed willingness Sunday to forego some elements of democracy if it means keeping gang violence at bay.

El Salvador’s constitution prohibits reelection. But a fter his party was victorious in 2021 legislative elections, the newly elected congress purged the country’s constitutional court, replacing judges with loyalists. They later ruled that Bukele could run for a second term. Critics say he has chipped away at the country’s system of checks and balances.