Nayib Bukele is welcomed like a rock star at Republican conference in Washington – 2024-02-26 16:34:03

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele received a rock star welcome Thursday at a conservative gathering outside Washington when he urged people to “fight unapologetically” against what he called “dark forces.”

This is the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). There Bukele told the public to take El Salvador as a warning and reported that the gangs took control of their country and society decades ago, which is why, he stated, a fight was necessary to arrest criminals and remove corrupt judges.

“The next president of the United States must not only win an election, he must have the vision, the will and the courage to do what is necessary and, above all, he must be able to identify the underlying forces that will conspire against him,” he assessed. the Central American president addressing the public in English who met at the National Harbor, in Maryland, on the outskirts of the country’s capital.

“These dark forces are already taking over your country,” he concluded.

The four-day conference also has as a guest the new president of Argentina, the right-wing populist Javier Milei. The Argentine is scheduled to speak on Saturday, the same day that former President Donald Trump will deliver the keynote address.

Almost two years ago, Bukele declared war on the gangs. So far it has detained more than 76,000 Salvadorans in its attempt to break the chain of violence that has plagued the country for decades. His policies have broad support and, earlier this month, won re-election for a second five-year term.

Bukele has been criticized because many of the arrests have been made with little evidence or access to due process, and human rights groups have documented widespread abuses that have not been experienced since the country’s civil war from 1980 to 1992.

At one point in his speech, Bukele said that it took 50 years, two wars, 250,000 deaths, a third of the displaced population “and almost a miracle to recover our country.” Someone in the crowd shouted, “And you!”

The Salvadoran president left the place to the cheers of the public and other displays of support.

“Having an intelligent man as president really makes a difference,” said Nallely Gutiérrez Gijón, who managed to take a photo with Bukele. “He is determined as an authoritarian to end corruption, but he rules with an iron fist.”

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