The Take: ‘World’s coolest dictator’ set for re-election in El Salvador

President Nayib Bukele governs with an ‘iron fist’, but he’s popular and poised to win a second term in Sunday’s polls.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele speaks during a deployment ceremony for the Territorial Control plan and army officers' graduation at the Captain Gerardo Barrios Military Academy in Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador December 15, 2021
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele speaks during a deployment ceremony for the Territorial Control plan and army officers' graduation at the Captain Gerardo Barrios Military Academy in Antiguo Cuscatlan, December 15, 2021 [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s millennial president, governs with an “iron fist”. Under his leadership, 74,000 people have been imprisoned since 2022 as part of a massive crackdown on crime. Rights groups say he has suspended civil liberties in the process. But polls show voters approve, putting Bukele on track for a landslide re-election victory. So, how much will voters pay to curb crime in the country?

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Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Ashish Malhotra and Sarí el-Khalili with our host, Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan and Chloe K Li fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Source: Al Jazeera

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