Najib (Nayib) Bukele wins the election again as president of the Central American republic of El Salvador. "Again" is a key word, because reelection was prohibited in the country' Constitution until this was revised to pave way for the incumbent's extension of rule. But what mattered among you, dear masses of El Salvador, is not the rule of law, the due process, or the dignity or other human persons, but what immediately satisfies your wants, regardless of the manner of execution. Whatever it takes, even through Machiavellian means, just to achieve something short-term.
I know that. I am from the Philippines, one of the countries to first fall from the terror and demagogy of populists. Rodrigo Duterte ruled his city, Davao, with an iron fist. He had his Davao Death Squad (DDS); he forced wrongdoers to eat inedible stuff like paper and cigarette butt; he flashed a profane gesture on air. In my high school days, I thought "I don't want this guy to rule the country", yet disinformation and demagogy put him into presidency. He became infamous for his "War on Drugs"; he gave sexist remarks (like wishing to rape a dead rape victim first and joking on his female vice president (Leni Robredo) on wearing mini-skirt) and actions (like catcalling a journalist and kissing a stranger); he cursed the United Nations, Barack Obama, the European Union, God and also Robredo; he observed the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes' Cemetery), yet he remained popular.
That extended worldwide; a war on drugs was suggested by populists in the United States, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. I also tuned in on social media pages of Latin American news sites, and certain comments laud on "pena de muerte" (death penalty) and "mano dura" (iron fist). When former Colombian president César Gaviria criticised Duterte on the latter's war, the Filipino leader was quick to denounce him, and there were Colombians who sided with Duterte. Then the likes of Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, Guatemala's Jimmy Morales and Alejandro Giammattei all won amidst this wave of populist terrorism. Then came Bukele in El Salvador, promising what Duterte also promised: "true change". I would like to blame my fellow countrymen for changing El Salvador for the worse.
"Para sa tunay na pagbabago"-- For true change; that was Duterte's electoral slogan. He campaigned for the reinstatement of capital punishment and for charter change to make the Philippines a federal country with a parliamentary system. He showed no mercy to drug users. Crime fell, albeit drug prevalence didn't. The economy continued to grow, in fairness. The Balangiga Bells were also returned by the United States to the country, credits to him. He issued an order to ban smoking in public places, which is impartially speaking commendable. But I cannot say the Philippines changed for the better: human rights are ditched, democracy became under attack, and the Filipino society and its morality regressed. This is the kind of change I dislike the most. But political will is not strong enough: there was no charter change, capital punishment remains not a choice, and Duterte did not seek measures to introduce reelection. Yet everything was in favour of his regime: it had the tools to sustain populist rule, installing the tandem of Bongbong Marcos (son and namesake of Ferdinand Marcos) and Sara Duterte (Rodrigo's daughter); it did not require a platform for them to win; influence operations alone worked.
But in your country, there is more political will: Bukele did an auto-coup and declared a "state of exception", and his regime scrambled the system by reducing the number of municipalities (to benefit his right-wing syncretic New Ideas party) and ditching a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that prevented consecutive rule. The state of exception was effective; even critical outlets confirm like a February 2023 article by El Faro, But at what cost? Less crime and safer streets at the cost of dwindling freedoms, the detentions of innocents and the corruption of the Salvadoran morality; the change I dislike the most, the change that is destructive to the society. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary/ Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety".
What's happening at my country now? Because both Duterte and Marcos are popular, they were joined by numerous politicians, but now their "UniTeam" alliance is now broken into two camps, and fears of destabilisation and coup float (I doubt there is no such plot). With Bukele being popular, calling himself the "coolest dictator", in order to survive, other politicians shift to his party, and this may cause the same kind of rift within his regime. But we know Bukele-- the auto-coup, state of exception, gerrymandering and reelection measures were all done to keep himself ruling. He also have the armed forces with him; he can tighten his grip on power and quash any form of dissent. Populist terrorism is struggling to keep itself alive and is feared to still thrive this year, but justice will reign, and human rights will be an element in imposition of sanctions, so Bukele's regime will not escape getting sanctioned. Bukele is 42 years old, so he can have more decades to rule, and you will get tired of this, but you will find it hard to escape.
Some Filipinos have learnt of the folly and deceit of the Dutertes and the Marcoses, but pity those who remain loyal to either or critical to criticisms against them. As Rodrigo Duterte remains highly popular in my country, the Philippines as a nation will be having a collective responsibility to solve all the errors his regime and stooges had done. But Bukele is more popular among you than Duterte is among us, and since you elected him once and elected him again, the entire nation of El Salvador is collectively responsible for all the political and human rights catastrophes that have come and are yet to come. Regret will be inevitable, but you have to face the repercussions of getting deceived by demagogy.
Article posted on 09 February 2024, 22:00 (UTC +08:00).
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