El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele: rich boy or man of the people?
In the light of the elections held in El Salvador on February 3rd 2019, there have been speculations in how the new government will impact the future of the Central American nation. The outcome was shocking — though not surprising. The Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), led by Nayib Bukele, won the popular vote against the dualistic stylings of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) led by the supermarket giant Super Selectos vice-boss Carlos Calleja and the liberal Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) — led by some guy named Hugo Martínez.
The victory symbolises hope for many Salvadorans because it ends 30 years of back-and-forth dominance from the two big guns ARENA and FMLN, who during their time in the spotlight have multiplied the pain and suffering in the country through poor decision-making and corruption scandals.
Yet there doesn’t seem to be much infatuation for Nayib Bukele, a 37 year-old empresario who has held a consistent campaign since day one and has defied all odds to get to the top. His efforts have been overshadowed by this idea that the general populace is sick and tired of ARENA and FMLN’s ongoing rhetoric, which has only led to empty promises time and time again — and so the people voted them out. Bukele’s path to presidency is worth examining because even though at times he may seem questionable, he has come a long way to get Salvadorans looking in his direction.
For starters, Mr. Bukele is not entirely new to politics. This might not be surprising to some, but it feels nice to know that he has a basic understanding of El Salvador’s status quo and can generally formulate his own ideas, which is — if we’re being honest — unheard of in El Salvador’s presidential alumni. Under the FMLN banner, he was able to build a track record as the mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlan and San Salvador. His actions, though modest, were recognized. He made public projects come to life and gave scholarships to the local youth, and parallel to that developed a populist style that is largely attributed to his strong social media following that he entertains with live videos and the occasional zinging tweet.
His image is one that has been carefully constructed to appeal millennials and has allowed him to further distantiate himself from the traditional suit-and-tie-wearing politician. Styling a slicked-back hairdo and sporting a leather jacket, he garnered attention with his trademark hashtag #devuelvanlorobado (give back what you stole) to support this idea that public funding does not go scarce when politicians don’t steal.
This slogan resonated exponentially compared to Carlos Calleja’s promise to create more employment opportunities which, in spite of pitching a persona of a successful supermarket magnate who’s created thousands of jobs — lacked genuinity and failed to convince anyone. Hugo Martinez, on the other hand, spent his time criticizing his former FMLN colleague when he should’ve been revamping his party’s image which is now blemished by former president Mauricio Funes (who is currently living under asylum in Nicaragua after being accused of corruption) and somewhat by the nation’s current leader, Salvador Sanchez Ceren who, let’s face it — heads the most forgettable administration the country has ever seen.
Bukele’s choice to join GANA was a reluctant move. ARENA and FMLN don’t have any love for him; the latter expelled him after he made harsh criticisms of the party and of Sanchez Ceren’s administration (he basically told them he sucks). As for ARENA, it’s a club for rich kids — and Bukele is not allowed to be there. Though it’s worth noting that GANA is actually a spin-off from ARENA founded in part by disgraced ex-prez Antonio Saca, and Bukele’s opponents didn’t hold back to question his legimity as a candidate and hinted that his association with the party could land him the same fate as Mr. Saca’s, who’s currently serving a 10-year sentence for being yet another ladrón. The fact is that Bukele had been expressing great discontent over the quality of the country’s political parties for some time and he didn’t seem to fit in any of them; that’s why he started Nuevas Ideas (new ideas) but this new party’s legimity did not convince the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and while time was running out to join the race, he jumped on GANA’s coattails along with his running mate, Felix Ulloa. Though he does intend on running the country with Nuevas Ideas’ spirit.
For their part, GANA is defined as being centre-right, and that could somewhat help understand where Bukele stands in the political spectrum, though it is still unclear where the man stands on certain issues. During his time in FMLN he admitted being socially liberal and an advocate for justice, though he is not in favour of abortion (which is a punishable crime in El Salvador) nor does he believe that the state should regulate the market. After all, he’s a natural businessman and this stance serves him well because opting for a full-on left-wing position would just seem plain phoney. But he also acknowledges that El Salvador is in fact a feudal society and not a free-market paradise; the open-trade deals done by the oligarchy and the lack of protection for the little guy is what has run down the nation in the first place. The lack of opportunities and the rising levels of crime go hand-in-hand, and Bukele is aware that his government plan needs to take care of that in order to repair the country’s social fabric.
Oh, and let’s not forget to mention that he was the only candidate who presented an actual government plan, which despite being dismissed as being a compilation of plagiarised scientific articles, is still a valid preliminary draft. How else was he supposed to find accurate data? Those were the cries of a desperate Calleja and Martinez who by then — had already lost the plot. Besides, anybody who has already browsed in Nuevas Ideas’ website will know that there is a forum open to the public that acts as a suggestion box. Let’s just hope that Bukele’s government actually draws ideas from that platform to shape his vision.
And though his rise to politics can be attributed to his wealth and influence, he has had to put up a fight. See, Bukele is not part of the Salvadoran oligarchy aka the old money — which is mainly composed of Criollos (Latin Americans of full Spanish descent) who are believed to be the owners of El Salvador. He’s third generation Palestinian-Salvadoran which historically speaking, is an ethnic group that has made great strides in the country’s commercial and retail sectors and they’ve been deeply involved in politics (Jose Simán, Óscar Antonio Safie and Schafik Handal to name a few). They’ve come a long way despite suffering discrimination based on their language and religion; just watch how Bukele’s critics reacted when they found him praying at a mosque in Mexico City. The Bukele dynasty is one that is admired throughout the whole country: his uncle Alfredo Bukele Simon is a prolific businessman who waged a controversial war versus the country’s corrupt judicial system for many years; Nayib’s late father, Armando, was an influential entrepreneur and imam who hosted a weekly program where he provided wisdom on how business and politics should be done in El Salvador. There is a culture that values hard work and perseverance in this family, and Nayib’s career reflects those values.
It is hard to anticipate what will happen in the next five years. On the political sphere, the president-elect is full of contradictions and misconceptions, but his transparency will be enough to create discussion and participation in this new post-war chapter of El Salvador.
While he had more flair and tact than his opponents, his underdog position and engagement with the public is everything millennials are looking for in a leader. The salary-free-politician-who-uses-hashtags persona was enough to get him in, but now Bukele needs to deliver, and once again the odds are against him. First, he will have to build a nepotism-free cabinet, which he was accused of during his time in Nuevo Cuscatlan, and he needs to face the music at the general assembly — ARENA and FMLN still dominate, while GANA currently holds a mere 10/84 seats. El Salvador desperately needed new blood to make a first step to change, and Nayib Bukele is the man who can make that happen as of June 1st 2019.
