Country led by 'world's coolest dictator' has jailed 1% of its population, now introducing life imprisonment
El Salvador's Congress has approved a constitutional amendment promoted by President Nayib Bukele, often described as “the coolest dictator in the world,” that allows for life sentences in a country that has imprisoned more than 1 percent of its population as part of its war on criminal gangs, the Associated Press reports.
Lawmakers approved the amendment on Tuesday, the same day Bukele's security cabinet presented it to Congress, which is firmly under the control of the populist leader's party.
The measure was approved by 59 of the 60 MPs and is due to be ratified next week.
It comes in the context of Bukele promoting a series of constitutional reforms, harshly criticized for eroding institutional checks and balances, as well as for undermining the country's fragile democracy.
“We will see who supports this reform and who dares to defend the idea that the Constitution should continue to prohibit murderers and rapists from remaining in prison,” Bukele wrote in a message he posted on the “X” social network before the vote.
“The coolest dictator in the world” can stay in power indefinitely
In August, the government pushed through another reform that would remove term limits for the presidency, paving the way for Bukele to remain in power indefinitely. Legal experts widely believe that Bukele's second term, which begins in 2024, violates El Salvador's Constitution, which prohibits consecutive re-election.
The latest reform builds on other measures taken by Bukele to stamp out gangs in El Salvador, including declaring a state of emergency in March 2022 after a wave of gang violence.
The measure, designed to be temporary but extended for nearly four years, suspends essential constitutional rights and has led to the detention of some 91,300 people.
Human rights organizations have documented cases of arbitrary detention in El Salvador for years, and one group even argued before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the vast majority of those incarcerated under the state of emergency were arbitrarily detained. Bukele strongly criticized this charge, but claimed that 8,000 innocent people were released.
Arbitrary imprisonment in El Salvador
Bolstered by its alliance with US President Donald Trump, Bukele's government has also cracked down on its opponents, detaining critics and activists and increasingly forcing journalists and opposition voices to choose between exile and prison.
Those detained under the state of emergency are incarcerated with little evidence, on vague charges by the authorities, and with very limited access to due process. Inmates are often tried in class action lawsuits, and lawyers frequently lose track of their clients' whereabouts.
Officials in Bukele's government previously vowed that detained gang members would “never return” to the streets.
The president earned the nickname “the coolest dictator in the world” in his first years in power, thanks to his carefully groomed image, but also initiatives such as the adoption of bitcoin as the national currency and promises to make El Salvador a world leader in cryptocurrency.
A large part of these promises have not materialized or the measures implemented to achieve them have failed.
