She is one of thousands of Salvadorans gathered in Plaza Gerardo Barrios in downtown San Salvador to pay tribute to the 42-year-old president who has been re-elected for another five-year term.
– No one else has got our country in order, but he did. We are very grateful, says Juliana Luna.
Nayib Bukele’s success is due to the fact that in two years he transformed El Salvador from being the world’s most dangerous country to one of the safest.
– I cried when the gangs ruled the district where I live. They blackmailed everyone for money. Now they are gone, says Juliana Luna.
Juliana Luna firar Bukeles seger. Photo: Luis Bernardo Cano
She hopes that Bukele will also get El Salvador’s economy in order, which has the lowest growth in Central America.
– I am unemployed and need a job, says Juliana Luna.
One of the others who gathered in the square in front of the National Palace is the 48-year-old graphic designer Jack Quesada. He is holding a map of El Salvador that he made himself. It portrays Nayib Bukele as the savior of El Salvador.
– I have lived for 15 years in Los Angeles in the USA. Now I have moved back because I regained hope.
A man wearing a Bukele mask celebrates after the election. Photo: Luis Bernardo Cano
Beside him, his two daughters, 13 and 16 years old, are smiling. Growing up, they only saw their father when he came to visit once a year.
– Now we can finally live together again, says one daughter Britany.
What Nayib Bukele has done in El Salvador is unparalleled in Latin America. No other president has won by such a wide margin. According to the election forecasts, the second best-placed left-wing politician is Manuel Flores of the FMLN, who received 7 percent of the vote.
The same election forecast shows that the right-wing Arena’s candidate Joel Sánchez received 5 percent of the vote.
Nayib Bukele during his speech at the National Palace in El Salvador, together with wife Gabriela Rodriguez. Photo: Luis Bernardo Cano
The overwhelming election result means that Nayib Bukele will also dominate the Congress. In his victory speech, Bukele claimed that his party won 58 of the 60 congressional seats.
– He has wiped out the entire opposition, says Nelson Rauda, editor of the Central American online newspaper El Faro.
El Salvadors constitution does not allow re-election of presidents, but Bukele managed to circumvent that rule. The question is whether Bukele will respect the constitution almost when there are elections.
– This may be the last free election for a while. I don’t think he will disappear in five years, says Nelson Rauda.
Alba Rivera is one of those who did not vote for Bukele. Photo: Luis Bernardo Cano
On one of the side streets to the square, 50-year-old Alba Rivera is frying pupusas, thick corn tortillas that are El Salvador’s national dish. When Bukele launched her war against the gangs two years ago, she was one of those who were jailed.
– They realized that I worked for one of the gangs. It took six months for the justice system to realize that I was innocent. By the time I got out, I had lost weight and lost my hair, she says.
Did you vote for Bukele?
– No, I did not.
