The Bukele Clones are not faring well
Copycat crackdowns by security forces in Honduras and Ecuador have failed to reduce growing criminality
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Since El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele imposed a “temporary” state of emergency that curtails civil rights and expanded police powers in 2022, he has won re-election in a landslide, despite re-election being Constitutionally prohibited under Salvadoran law, and projected an image of ruthless efficiency on the part of security forces in combating criminality.
Crime in the country, which was once the most dangerous in the Americas, has indisputably plummeted, (though homicide statistics from the Salvadoran government are also misleading, more on that below). Bukele’s gains against crime have inspired copycat policies across the region.
Politicians in Ecuador and Honduras especially have embraced “the Bukele strategy”, deciding that using authoritarian crackdowns in battling organized criminal groups merits the respective costs to democratic process and civil rights.
However, the results of copycat policies in Honduras and El Salvador have been very different from the country they are imitating. The Bukele copycats are not doing well.
Ecuador
Ecuador was the most dangerous country in Central or South America in 2023, with a homicide rate of 44.5 per 100,000 — a 74.5% increase over the previous year. The country has experienced a wave of violent crime in recent years. The government has implemented a series of authoritarian measures over the last two administrations, culminating in emergency decrees that have given exceptional powers to police and prosecutors.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who took office in November 2023, has continued the hard-line policies of his predecessor. He won a campaign plagued by violence, which culminated in the assassination of a presidential candidate.