Do we like Nayib Bukele?
Our score: 2 out of 10. A real fall in killings and huge popularity, set against his government's own acts on gender in schools, critics, NGOs and term limits.
Bukele came up through the leftist FMLN, which expelled him in 2017, and now runs the country through his own party, Nuevas Ideas. He won a second term in 2024 even though the constitution had banned consecutive re-election. A favourable court ruling made it possible, and plenty of people questioned it.
The gang crackdown is the story of his presidency. A state of emergency since March 2022 has led to more than 90,000 arrests, and homicides have fallen more than 90 percent from their peaks. Bukele has acknowledged that about 8,000 of those arrested were later released for lack of evidence. Cristosal says at least 86 people are held as political prisoners, and an international experts' panel says it found reasonable grounds to believe crimes against humanity are occurring. The government rejects all of it.
The harm test is where he loses us. In a 2025 speech he said “I’d rather be called a dictator than see Salvadorans being killed in the streets.” His government passed a foreign agents law that puts a 30 percent tax on foreign funding for NGOs. NGO lawyer Ruth López was arrested on corruption accusations, which she denies, and Amnesty and Human Rights Watch call the arrest an attempt to silence dissent. AP reported more than 100 journalists, lawyers and activists went into exile, and the government didn't respond to AP's questions.
On LGBTQ+ rights, the Education Ministry announced in 2024 that it had removed all traces of “gender ideology” from public schools. Women's and LGBTQ+ groups said that violates equality rights and sets back efforts to prevent sexual violence. AFP noted Bukele had seemed open to these issues as a 2019 candidate, then made clear he wouldn't pursue reforms. On migrants, his government jailed 252 Venezuelans and 36 Salvadorans deported from the US in 2025.
The recent chapter is about staying in the job. Congress voted 57 to 3 in 2025 to allow indefinite re-election and extend terms to six years. In a December 2025 interview he said “if it were up to me, I would stay on for ten more years” but added that it didn't have to happen. Then his party nominated him unopposed in July 2026. One of his own claims has also been rated false: Voz Pública found more than 70 schools were built under the two governments before his, contrary to his line that none had been.
The good is real, and it's why he polls so high. Reuters links his strong approval ratings largely to the crime crackdown, and the drop in killings is documented even by his critics. We didn't find anything solid on his record on the planet in what we read, so that's a gap, not a pass or a fail. Weighing it all, the safety gains don't cancel the record on LGBTQ+ people, critics and term limits. It's a lean no.