Public sentiment regarding President Bukele's indefinite re-election is highly polarized. Many supporters highlight significant improvements in safety and governance under his leadership, viewing him as a transformative figure for the nation. However, a substantial portion of the public voices strong concern over the potential for authoritarianism and the undermining of democratic norms, fearing that his actions may lead to a dictatorship. Overall, while there is considerable support for Bukele, the critical voice regarding the erosion of democracy dominates the conversation.

Nayib Bukele

Nuevas Ideas

El Salvador Citizens

This is a lesson that any system of government is only as good as the people who run it.

blalien

ArugulaElectronic478

I remember the vitriol in the response to a comment I posted a year or two ago about this man essentially being a dictator - the jist of it was that he's saved the nation and can't be questioned, and that Americans need to keep their nose out of it.

Teapast6

He did put on his X bio.  
&gt;The coolest dictator in the world

chihuahuaOP

Those folks saying here months ago that this guy wasn’t running a dictatorship must be making yogurt with all that milk.

ImNotSkankHunt42

Congrats, El Salvador, you have a dictator again.

AccountNumeroThree

Just like Russia after Putin returned for his second run.

mkt853

Goodbye El Salvador.

Criticism against Bukele is the next target.
So removing critics in free press and within the people.

He‘ll rule until he dies.

Textbook dictatorship.

KiezKraut

ChicagoAuPair

kazumi_yosuke

People told me I was being ridiculous everytime I commented how this would end in a dictatorship. Many fellow latinos saw the writing on the wall years ago, we can recognize the modus operandi after so many dictatorships.


The moment he "steps down", we will hear about the torture and murders, I could bet those prisons are also filled with the opposition. 

Iwannastoprn

Exactly what Chavez did. Look at them now.

sigmmakappa

Coming to an American democracy system near you.

L3g3ndary-08

Couldn't they spare us all the tiresome optics and name him El Jefe de por Vida?

Constantinople2020

burtono6

The "coolest" dictator.

Doubt the quoted part

yanocupominomb

Bryanius

ToranjaNuclear

My great grandfather was the UN ambassador from El Salvador in the 50s and 60s. My family was eventually forced to move to the US permanently to escape political violence. It's a shame that every time I see a headline about El Salvador in the news things are somehow getting worse than the last time I saw one.

NflJam71

I remember when even generally liberal people on reddit were insisting Bukele was good for El Salvador and that our ways of doing things here wouldn't always work for a country like that.

FatalTragedy

[deleted]

xMASSIVKILLx

What a coincidence that this also happens to be the same country we have a deal with to take our deported immigrants.

DamianSicks

pabloivan57

tobeshitornottobe

Coming soon to a USA near you!!!

(That is if the GOP gets their way)

Mikethebest78

DalvinCanCook

Don’t worry. This won’t go horribly wrong. And I don’t blame them. It’s not like they have a lot of examples of democratic backsliding into dictatorships in Latin America that work out wonderfully for their people. Oh wait…

idebugthusiexist

I, for one, did not see that coming
…….Narrator: he saw it coming a mile away

B_R_U_H

This is inevitably what happens when Napoleonism is followed. They inevitably centralize power further into their hands and make it impossible to have it taken away. Then youre left holding the bag when they inevitably do stuff the public would normally vote you out for. Like importing criminals from America or taking people off the street with no due process by claiming theyre gang members.

Super_Ninja_Gamer

It feels like the whole world is backsliding into authoritarianism. What the hell is happening?

MinersLoveGames

Ok_Earth6184

nafeythewafey

To the surprise of absolutely nobody... 

Everyone does it. Any dictator-like person feeling they can get away with it, because of war, or military backing, passed questionable legislation, or at the time high population support/approval rating  — wants to extend their term. We are in the age of rise of totalitarianism. South America is not an exception. The desire to hold onto power longer, perhaps it’s even caused by donors and folks whom he owes, as they likely figured they can get a better return on investment. Just a possible hypothesis.

OhZvir

It’s never a great idea to approve indefinite term limits.  Even if you’re in office, if you get ousted there’s a good chance your political enemies will be in power forever.  Why open up that can of worms at all?

KCMmmmm

How long before Trump trys the same thing?

Djlittle13

Another fascist dictator that arrested millions of innocent people not just criminals

Extreme-Direction-78

I remember people foaming out of their mouths when I called him a "hip" dictator over a year ago or so lmao

millanstar

Additional-North-683

I warned my Salvadoran friends about this and they thought I was being dramatic. How the turn tables.

OctAzul

Same term length as Mexico, but at least they don’t allow reelection

BobBelcher2021

I remember people celebrating that Bukele cleaned the streets and started flaunting that El Salvador was better than all the other crime ridden Latam countries. Bukele was just getting started with his master plan. Now yall got a dictator that is just one shower thought away from just revising the constitution again after this and just saying he’ll be president forever. El Salvador will get poorer and due process will be a thing of the past. It was too good to be true.

Quick_Chemistry9383

Please srop encouraging the idiot in chief

Esperacchiusdamascus

Congratulations, you got yourself a new dictator!

BrndyAlxndr

i really hope nothing bad happens to the larger majority of el salvadorian people. dictators eventually sour.

mysteriousmoonmagic

Here in Italy, we've already seen this one before.

WSuperOS

Xyro77

I remember when Russia did this around a decade ago. The 22nd amendment is a godsend and I’m glad we have it.

biglyorbigleague

Why doesn't every country do that, are they stupid?

Real_Boseph_Jiden

Just another authoritarian playbook for others to follow.

FabioFresh93

Is it a coincidence that he and Elizabeth Holmes share the same style?

dc_based_traveler

Starter Comment: 

  
The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country’s Legislative Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six years. Included in these proposals was also the elimination of the second round of the election where the two top vote-getters from the first round face off. The Legislative Assembly quickly approved the proposals with the supermajority they hold. The vote passed with 57 in favor and three opposed.

  
Is this a good thing? What does this mean, if anything, in the context of global democratic backsliding? Can people vote themselves into a less democratic system, or is this in fact a more democratic system?

GoddessFianna

Despite all the doom and gloom, they absolutely love him there so this isn't a huge surprise. I'm honestly curious if he'll end up being something like Lee Kuan Yew.

Neglectful_Stranger

A similar proposal will be introduced in the US in 3 . . . 2 . . .

Rcrecc

Please use [Good Faith](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskConservatives/comments/107i33m/announcement_rule_7_good_faith_is_now_in_effect) and the [Principle of Charity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity) when commenting. We are currently under an indefinite moratorium on gender issues, and anti-semitism and calls for violence will not be tolerated, especially when [discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskConservatives/comments/17ygktl/antisemitism_askconservative_and_you/).


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AutoModerator

Straight from the dictatorship textbook. Salvadoran democracy has been on life support for a few years now, this basically makes its death official. It’s sad.

jbelany6

You're telling me a poor Latin American country is being run by an anti democratic authoritarian? I'm shocked!

Gaxxz

He's in an FDR position where he's so popular in a time of crisis he can basically do whatever he wants with his overwhelming majority and popularity. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now, but I get it

Lamballama

Their country, their decision. Apparently people like being able to live their lives without being extorted and shot at.

Skylark7

Unfortunately El Salvador had a long string of totally incompetent leadership in the past.  Now that they actually have someone in place fixing things then it's a rational choice to keep him around.

JayeK47

That country was literally a shit hole, the murder capital of the world. They turned that country around in a big way. I can see why fear would not want to let that go.

SnooFloofs1778

I don't think about them.

One of the benefits of being American is that we're large enough, self-sufficient enough, and powerful enough to not have to worry about other countries, and unlike a lot of redditors, I'm not really inclined to pretend that I know what's better for people in other countries than they do.

I think, if anything, it's demonstrative of how the left has watered down formerly damning terms like "dictator" to the point where people have no problem joking about it because of how ridiculous the constant accusations of it are.

I don't know about the election process in El Salvador, but it seems that their legislative body voted 57-3 in favor of this, according to your link. It seems the court ruled against him running earlier.. but that's generally how presidential republics work. Court makes a ruling based on law, and if the legislature doesn't like that ruling, they change the law. Dredd Scott and the 14th amendment comes to mind.

Hell, we only implemented term limits for president here in 1951. There are still people alive today who were alive when a president served his fourth term.

Democracy, right?

ARatOnASinkingShip

Less than a decade ago it was the murder capital of the world.

Now your big left wing cities in the US have murder rates 20-30 times higher than theirs.

jhy12784

WinDoeLickr

gummibearhawk

"The vote passed with 57 in favor and three opposed."

With THAT big a majority (and that big a popularity of the President) he can pass whatever the hell he wants. At least he didn't proclaim himself President for Life.

[BTW the majority he won after "a painstaking vote count".](https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-nayib-bukele-election-8637667ca3b9f35c9ffd2baf805a9ade)

Which is pretty well explained by "The 42-year-old leader is massively popular in El Salvador" from that same article.

MedvedTrader

Predictable and not great but I’d still vote for him, unless someone with the same crime policies comes along that is more democratic

fartyunicorns

Regular-Plantain-768

We're in a strange place where allowing the people to vote for the person they want for as many terms as they want that person is anti democracy. But whatever. I don't think much of it. It sounds like it was all done legally, and Bukele has, in a very real way, saved his country. Hope he doesn't abuse his power too much.

soulwind42

Some countries need indefinite and powerful executives.

The largest African economies would benefit from a neutral, dispassionate technocrat leader

Cricket_Wired

I don’t care what El Salvador does at all.

soapdonkey

Well… I think El Salvador is a dictatorship now.

jason375

Some have the mistaken notion that unpopularity among the masses is a constant within countries under authoritarian or totalitarian regimes. Throughout History, many of the most infamous dictators came to power (and stayed) not only at gunpoint but also with the thunderous applause of the crowds. I have a feeling we're facing another example for the textbook.

A7V-

Jesus. Dude isn't even trying to be subtle

insane677

This is how putin became dictator of Russia 

StopElectingWealthy

When current leader start mucking with established election law that is the first step a country take toward totalitarian government.

macross1984

This is a bad sign for the US. Trump is going to do everything in his power to replicate.

snakesayan

Turbulent_Flan8304

After years of being riddled by gang violence and criminal enterprise, I'm not surprised the populace would rather safety and security over democracy.

What has democracy given them other then high crime rates and corruption at the highest level.

This guy could be his countries Lee Kuan Yew or he could be another Castro. Interesting times ahead of El Salvador.

PresentationUnited43

didyeah

Tell me you're a dictator without saying you're a dictator.

krankwok

first world people wouldn't believe the kind of horror the people of El Salvador have been through

Sea-Star8225

Not to defend him, but it’s valid for a population to trade democracy for security. It is so easy to dismiss that, when you don’t grow up in a country that for generations were ruled by violent gangs. Where your basic freedoms were already curtailed due to gangs violence

Mindless_Bid_5162

He is widely popular in El Salvador, I can see him being president for the next 20+ years.

Rush_Banana

People are so happy with how the country is, I don't think many will mind. At least thats what the feeling is from the outside looking in.

FiNNy--

Oh...so that's why the Donald like this guy so much

Dentalfloss_cowboy

Jjjiped1989

Trump will want this Putin-model take hold.

harryx67

This is what Trump is going to do and have the judges allow it.

Cobras1xer

I find it kinda hilarious that people who don't live in El Salvador speak on behalf of Salvadoreans saying it's a dictatorship, yet it's arguably the safest it's ever been. (One of the safest in the Americas) That isn't including the fact that its GDP is the highest it's ever been as well. 

Literally everyone I've seen who lives in El Salvador or has left El Salvador and returned is grateful for what he's done now that they can walk outside safely without any gang members to take their belongings or potentially kill them.

Nats57

Remember when people shouted us down for opposing this guy? Calling anyone who criticized him pro crime

AdmirableKey8603

The cool guy that just want an absolute power, how refreshing, we never had those. I wonder how it will end.

UltimaTime

I remember the Gorbachev era. How hopeful we all were that the cold war was over. The shackles were off. Any country could move towards a democratic system, not just the former communist bloc, but various Washington backed dictatorships that were artificially kept that way just because they were anti Moscow. It actually looked like the entire Western Hemisphere would be free except maybe Cuba and Haiti. Europe looked to be changing to 100% democratic. 


Unfortunately most of the rudimentary democracies worldwide have slipped back to authoritarian rule. In most cases, the people themselves elected a despot much like Hitler and Mussolini in the 30s.

bombocanada

What the hell is going on with the whole world running full steam toward dictatorships?

cjandstuff

Bukele’s approach has earned very high approval ratings, with surveys by Gallup showing approval generally above 80–90% “

Redditors will sit on their couch and spew mass hysteria about a country they’ve never set foot in. A lot of these goof balls are currently living in the U S of A watching Donnie doing the same things they accuse Bukele of doing all whilst doing absolutely nothing about it; besides crying about it here on reddit. Yet they somehow have the audacity to tell another nation how to run the show.

But since reddit is heavily focused on making El Salvador look bad, I’ll share some amazing things that I have seen whilst visiting home. I do however wish reddit and the international community would have been more interested in my little nation when we were being victimized by gangs. Maybe they could have provided a magical solution to the violence that haunted the nation for almost 3 decades.

Btw isn’t it crazy how a man who pockets government funds and US aid is able to do have his administration accomplish all  these things? Must be the cartel members paying for it

Anyways, here are some positive developments throughout this new period:

-From 2019 to 2024, Bukele implemented the Territorial Control Plan, including a sweeping state of emergency that enabled mass arrests, culminating in over 85,000 suspected gang members detained by the end of 2024. Homicide rates fell drastically to about 1.9 per 100,000 people, one of the lowest in the Americas

-El Salvador enjoyed extended periods without homicides up to 365 non‑consecutive days in 2023—making it the second safest country in North and South America, next to Canada

-Hospital El Salvador, Latin America’s largest COVID-19 hospital, opened in June 2020 with 400 beds and extensive ICU capacity, significantly boosting the country’s pandemic response

-In March 2025, Bukele launched the Becas Roque Dalton, a nationwide scholarship program ensuring all public school graduates with strong academic performance have access to higher education or vocational training, regardless of income level

-Partnering with La Liga’s “Valores y Oportunidad” program, the government has provided sports‑based opportunities for over 26,000 children, and reached more than 350,000 people across educational and social development initiatives

-The National Library of El Salvador (BINAES) opened in November 2023, and is the first national library in the world to operate 24/7 featuring modern educational spaces, technology zones, and inclusive facilities across seven floors

-Bukele’s Surf City initiative upgraded coastal infrastructure starting in 2021, boosting connectivity, tourism, and local jobs. In April 2025, Surf City II was inaugurated, connecting 11 beaches across the eastern coast with roads, bridges, bus stops, cycling paths, and coastal amenities via a $41 million investment

•	⁠Sports Infrastructure: Construction of a new US $500 million national stadium in Antiguo Cuscatlán is underway with a 50,000 seat capacity, multi sport facilities, hotel space, and concert &amp; event venues, aiming to boost tourism, sports, and local economic development

-Economic reforms like reduced tariffs on essential goods and investment in tech infrastructure (e.g. data centers, port upgrades, rail reopening, and green airport plans) have been introduced to spur growth and create jobs

-In December 2024, Bukele inaugurated the Gerardo Barrios Bypass around San Miguel, featuring 12.9 miles of roadway, bike lanes, 12 bus stops, and elevated crosswalks aimed at improving connectivity and boosting local commerce

-Construction Sector Boom: From around $1.3 billion in 2019 to over $2.6 billion in 2025, construction investment, mostly public grew about 11% in 2024. The sector now employs over 160,000 people and contributes significantly to GDP, including more opportunities for women

-FDI surged to roughly $760 million in 2023 (highest in five years), and tourism arrivals climbed 40% over 2019 levels, making El Salvador one of the fastest-growing destinations globally. Visitors injected nearly $1.88 billion into the economy

-Fiscal Health &amp; Growth: Between 2021 and 2023, GDP expanded by about 19%. Debt-to-GDP declined to around 59% in 2024, the country’s lowest since 2008. IMF loans were secured; credit ratings improved (Moody’s, S&amp;P)

-Education &amp; Tech Access: Distribution of laptops and tablets to students reduced digital inequality and promoted more modern learning environments

-School Modernization Program: The “My New School” initiative, started in 2022, targets renovation of over 5,150 schools, including updated facilities and teacher training

-Food Security Programs: Under Phase 1 of the national Economic Plan, El Salvador established 56 food markets and a central supply hub in Soyapango to make basic goods more affordable for low-income families

Anywho, these are only a few things about my up and coming nation. The reddit doomsday warriors probably checked out of reading this. Not enough fear mongering to do off of these facts.

JoshuaFC

All my people I tell that we can expect this in the USA are adamant "never going to happen here". Even after sharing that it has been happening at an alarming rate of constitution changes around the globe. Looking at China, Russia, now El Salvador. From the article-

The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country’s National Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six years.

Lawmaker Ana Figueroa from the New Ideas party had proposed the changes to five articles of the constitution. The proposal also included eliminating the second round of the election where the two top vote-getters from the first round face off.

New Ideas and its allies in the National Assembly quickly approved the proposals with the supermajority they hold. The vote passed with 57 in favor and three opposed.

AppleTree98

shadyhorse

Tiraloparatras25

El Salvador's move to allow indefinite presidential reelection raises concerns about democracy and potential authoritarianism under President Bukele.

El Salvador Presidential Re-election Controversy

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want