So many problems with this story. Where to begin. 1) judiciary. Before the crack down the government tried to go the normal routes, but the gangs would threaten, kill or bribe the judges. Many of the judges sacked were corrupt judges in the pocket of the gangs, 2) if people can’t afford to eat (which is happening throughout south and Central America and in the US) how is paying money to gangs going to help them? High prices are not isolated to El Salvador and only helped by ridding extortion helps. 3) before the crack down there was no foreign investment in Sl Salvador. 4) migration from El Salvador is down significantly from before Bukele. Many El Salvadoran Expats are moving back and/or building second homes in El Salvador. I saw this first hand on a recent trip to San Salvador. 5) tourism is a thing there now. Before Bukele, a trip to El Salvador was considered Extreme Tourism. 6) there isn’t enough background on how things were before he came to power, nothing to compare the present to.
To end the control of gangs, there has to be an economy to give people opportunities outside of crime. The can’t be economic growth with gangs running the streets. Do you really think Google (and the other German, South Korean and South American companies) would have made a huge investment in El Salvador without Bukele’s policy?
Is the El Salvador government perfect? No government is. I agree that there should be better mechanisms to let innocent people out faster, they used to go through the normal judicial channels but the gangs had corrupted the judicial system and it was impossible to have true trials.
I wish you would write a story about how life was before Bukele was in power. Speak to random people and not just a group of people who don’t like Bukele to see what it was really like. I did and it sounded like a hellscape. Say whatever you want about Bukele, but he has made life much better for the average El Salvadoran; isn’t that what governments are supposed to do?
Really interesting read !!
So many problems with this story. Where to begin. 1) judiciary. Before the crack down the government tried to go the normal routes, but the gangs would threaten, kill or bribe the judges. Many of the judges sacked were corrupt judges in the pocket of the gangs, 2) if people can’t afford to eat (which is happening throughout south and Central America and in the US) how is paying money to gangs going to help them? High prices are not isolated to El Salvador and only helped by ridding extortion helps. 3) before the crack down there was no foreign investment in Sl Salvador. 4) migration from El Salvador is down significantly from before Bukele. Many El Salvadoran Expats are moving back and/or building second homes in El Salvador. I saw this first hand on a recent trip to San Salvador. 5) tourism is a thing there now. Before Bukele, a trip to El Salvador was considered Extreme Tourism. 6) there isn’t enough background on how things were before he came to power, nothing to compare the present to.
To end the control of gangs, there has to be an economy to give people opportunities outside of crime. The can’t be economic growth with gangs running the streets. Do you really think Google (and the other German, South Korean and South American companies) would have made a huge investment in El Salvador without Bukele’s policy?
Is the El Salvador government perfect? No government is. I agree that there should be better mechanisms to let innocent people out faster, they used to go through the normal judicial channels but the gangs had corrupted the judicial system and it was impossible to have true trials.
I wish you would write a story about how life was before Bukele was in power. Speak to random people and not just a group of people who don’t like Bukele to see what it was really like. I did and it sounded like a hellscape. Say whatever you want about Bukele, but he has made life much better for the average El Salvadoran; isn’t that what governments are supposed to do?