El Salvador’s president summons the army to bully congress
Nayib Bukele may get his way, at the price of damaging democracy
NAYIB BUKELE, the president of El Salvador, draws notice outside his country for his youth, his jet-black beard and his mastery of social media. Now his authoritarianism is a trending topic. The sight of Mr Bukele entering the National Assembly on February 9th, alongside soldiers toting machine guns, shocked onlookers at home and abroad. He plonked himself in the empty chair reserved for the president of congress. “I liked seeing those empty seats,” he tweeted. “It made it easier for me to imagine them full of honest people who work for the people.”
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Bukele up”

From the February 15th 2020 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Poll tracker
Canada’s Liberals are surging
Justin Trudeau’s resignation and Donald Trump’s tariffs gave them a boost
The matadors’ last stand in Colombia
A blanket prohibition on bullfighting goes into effect in 2027
The bravest woman in Latin America?
Diana Salazar is fighting to halt Ecuador’s slide into chaos
Mexico deploys 10,000 troops to the US border
They have been sent to tackle the drugs trade—and placate Donald Trump
Javier Milei’s crypto misadventure
The Argentine’s first serious embarrassment as president
An Oscar-nominated film sparks a reckoning with Brazil’s dictatorship
“I’m Still Here” is as much about the country’s present as its past