Nayib Bukele is a leader.
He leads a place called El Salvador. He works to make his land safe. Some people like his work a lot. Others think his way is not fair. Do you know about leaders?
Nayib Bukele is a leader.
He leads a land called El Salvador.
He used to work in business. Then he became a mayor. He also worked for a big group.
He wanted to make his land safe. He made new rules to stop crime. This helped many people feel safe.
He also made bitcoin a way to pay for things.
This was a new idea.
Many people like him a lot. Other people think his rules are not fair. He is a very important leader.
Nayib Bukele is the president of El Salvador.
He started as a businessman. He ran an advertising company. Later, he entered politics. He served as a mayor for two different cities.
In 2019, Bukele won the election for president. He wanted to make his country safer. He started a plan to stop crime. This plan led to many arrests of gang members. Because of this, the number of murders fell a lot. By 2024, the rate was one of the lowest in the Americas.
Bukele also made big changes to laws. He made bitcoin a legal way to pay for things.
He also changed how the government works. He reduced the number of local city groups. He also changed the number of seats in the legislature.
Many people in El Salvador like him very much. They give him high approval ratings. However, some people worry about his leadership. They say he has made it harder for the press to work. They also say he has weakened democracy in his country.
Nayib Bukele is the president of El Salvador.
He was born on July 24, 1981, in San Salvador. His father, Armando Bukele Kattán, was a businessman and a chemist. His mother is named Olga Marina Ortez. Bukele grew up in a family with many siblings. His father was an imam who founded four mosques. His family history includes roots in Palestine and Greece. Before politics, Bukele worked in the advertising business. He ran a company called Obermet starting in 1999.
Bukele moved into politics by joining the FMLN party. He first became the mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán in 2012. He was the youngest mayor in the country at that time. He used his own salary to fund scholarships for young people. In 2015, he was elected as the mayor of San Salvador. He worked to fix the city's historic downtown area. He also started projects to improve local schools.
He even used a high-altitude balloon to take photos of the country. These projects were meant to help people and teach science.
In 2017, Bukele left the FMLN party. He then started his own party called Nuevas Ideas. He ran for president in 2019. He won the election with 53 percent of the vote.
Once in office, he started a plan called the Territorial Control Plan. He wanted to lower the rate of crime in El Salvador. In 2019, the homicide rate was 38 per 100,000 people. By 2024, that rate dropped to 1.9 per 100,000. This made El Salvador's crime rate one of the lowest in the Americas.
To fight gangs, Bukele started a large crackdown on crime. This happened after many people were killed in March 2022. By December 2024, over 85,000 people were arrested.
Bukele also made big changes to how money works. In 2021, he made bitcoin legal tender in the country. This means people can use it to pay for things. He even has plans to build a Bitcoin City.
He also changed the number of local government groups and legislative seats.
Many people in El Salvador support Bukele's work. His approval rating is often above 90 percent.
However, other people have concerns about his leadership. Some say he has caused democratic backsliding in the country. This means the way the government works has changed. The country fell in rankings for press freedom and democracy. In 2020, soldiers entered the Legislative Assembly building. This caused a big political crisis. In 2024, he won re-election with 85 percent of the vote.
Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez is the 81st president of El Salvador. He has held this office since 2019. Before becoming president, he worked in the private sector. He was a businessman in the advertising industry. He founded a marketing company called Obermet in 1999. He also served as president of Yamaha Motors El Salvador from 2009 to 2012.
Bukele's political journey began in 2011. He joined the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, known as the FMLN. This is a left-wing political party in El Salvador. In 2012, he was elected mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán. He was the youngest mayor in the country at that time. He used his own salary to fund a scholarship program for local youth. In 2015, he was elected mayor of San Salvador. He served in that role until 2018.
As mayor of San Salvador, Bukele launched several urban projects. He started a "reordering" to fix the historic downtown area. He also launched the "San Salvador 100% Illuminated" campaign in 2016. This project aimed to install lights on every corner to reduce crime. He also installed video-surveillance cameras in high-crime areas. To help students, he created the Dalton Project. This scholarship program used his salary to help youth avoid joining gangs.
Bukele's relationship with the FMLN changed over time. In 2017, he was ousted from the party. He then founded his own political party called Nuevas Ideas. In 2019, he ran for president. The Supreme Electoral Court, or TSE, initially refused to register his party. Bukele then ran under the Grand Alliance for National Unity, known as GANA. He won the election with 53 percent of the vote.
Once in power, Bukele focused on reducing crime. In 2019, the homicide rate was 38 per 100,000 people. He implemented the Territorial Control Plan to address this. In March 2022, after 87 people were killed by gangs in one weekend, he began a nationwide crackdown. By December 2024, authorities had arrested over 85,000 people with alleged gang ties. By 2024, the homicide rate fell to 1.9 per 100,000 people.
Bukele has also introduced major economic and structural changes. In 2021, he passed a law making bitcoin legal tender. This means bitcoin is an official form of payment in El Salvador. He has also promoted plans for a Bitcoin City. In 2023, the Legislative Assembly approved his proposals to change local government. The number of municipalities dropped from 262 to 44. The number of legislative seats also decreased from 84 to 60.
While many people support him, his leadership has faced criticism. Bukele's approval rating has often averaged above 90 percent. However, observers note democratic backsliding in the country. El Salvador fell 61 places in the World Press Freedom Index from 2019 to 2025. It also fell 24 places in the Democracy Index. In 2020, soldiers entered the Legislative Assembly to pressure lawmakers. This event caused a political crisis.
Recent years have seen further changes to the legal system. In 2021, Bukele's allies in the legislature replaced the attorney general and all five supreme court justices. In 2024, Bukele won re-election with 85 percent of the vote. This followed a Supreme Court decision to reinterpret the constitution. This decision allowed him to run again despite a ban on consecutive re-election. In 2025, new laws extended presidential terms from five to six years.
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