Nayib Bukele is the current president of El Salvador. I like to read the news and keep up to date with what's going on around the world. And this guy is trending.

I don't know if you've seen it, but there are videos of people entering his new prison for all the gang members in El Salvador. I don't want to give anything away, but his approach to crime is what initially got my attention, and I decided to learn a little bit more about him.

I'm listening to a podcast now all about his criticisms, essentially and I honestly don't really agree with his criticisms but I also have an outsider's perspective. I just see so much potential in El Salvador and many Central American and South American countries, and it's a lot of times hindered because of corrupt governments and I think that... this is my opinion... I think that he is doing his best, what he thinks is best for the country, and one of them is getting rid of gang organizations and cracking down on that, but anyways, let's get into Today's episode.

Nayib Bukele is the current president of El Salvador. Bukele was born on July 24th, 1981. He is a former mayor of San Salvador, and he is the founder of the political party Nuevas Ideas, which means new ideas. He was elected as president in June 2019, presenting the Grand Alliance for National Unity, GANA Party.

I don't want to get into the details of that, because I'm truly not an expert, but this is kind of where a lot of the criticisms lie... kind of related to this, and his new political parties, and new Grand Alliance for National Unity. Anyways, let's get into the rest of these things.

Okay, so, Bukele is known for his strong social media presence. particularly on Twitter, which sounds like Trump, but we're not going to compare him to Trump. Okay. But there he communicates directly with the public and addresses various issues. So he's very active on social media, which can be good and bad, right?

If he can actually do it properly, then perfect, right? But he has positioned himself as a populist leader, promising to combat corruption and improve security and economic conditions in El Salvador. The people like him. Let's go with that first. Okay, so one reason people like him is his focus on infrastructure development and social programs aimed at addressing poverty and inequity.

So these are huge things those are like huge, super important things, improving infrastructure will improve your economy, and brings wealth to your country, which will then provide better opportunities for your people. That is so important. He also is developing social programs that are aimed or targeted at addressing poverty and inequity.

With improving infrastructure, he's also addressing the poverty and those that are at risk, and he is developing programs to help them. That is amazing. And it is exactly what so many of these countries need that have corrupt governments. He has also taken a hard line approach against gangs and criminal organizations, which I already mentioned.

I'll link those videos down below. But yeah, he created a brand new prison for people who are associated with these terrorist organizations which are namely gang members, to go. And you do not leave. Once you're convicted, you stay there. It is that bad. That is how bad these gangs have gotten in El Salvador.

So when he says, I'm taking a hard line against crime and gangs, he means it. And he has garnered support from citizens concerned about security issues, which is an understatement, okay? Being murdered on the street?

Not uncommon. Innocent civilians are getting caught in the cross fires of these gang members, or just being targeted by these gang members, cracking down on that will make the rest of your citizens safe.

Additionally, his youth and outsider status have appealed to many Salvadorans who are disillusioned or don't like the traditional political parties, which, I can't blame them.

However, opinions about Bukele are divided with some praising his leadership style and others expressing concerns about his authoritarian tendencies and clashes with democratic institutions. This makes sense, right? I understand that perspective. Making these huge changes, especially cracking down on gang members, there are concerns, like human rights concerns, by being this authoritarian.

And like I said, if you're convicted and sent here to this prison, you do not leave. That is my understanding from these videos I've seen. That's a very drastic thing to send people to. So yeah, that absolutely is authoritarian. So I understand that perspective.

And then clashes with democratic institutions, right? So like when you go into power, when you're elected president and you have these two new parties, like you're representing two new parties, you're not going to get along great with the existing ones. But, with that can cause some challenges with policy and integrating the current staff, but, I don't know. I don't know. Okay, I probably should comment on what I just said, what do I have to wrap this up with? I From what I know about Bukele, and like I said, I am still listening to a podcast that is about his criticisms I really admire him, and I think that a president like him is what a lot of Central and South American countries need.

If you aren't corrupt, and you aren't taking money from your citizens, like so many of The current leaders are doing. Brazil, we can just mention Brazil there. Anyways these countries can flourish and people won't need to leave for their safety, leave for opportunities. So I like him.

And of course he's going to cause some rifts, right? When you are this drastic and this new It will take time to adjust and be liked, but as an outsider, I really like him. If you are interested, though, in learning more about him, I will link some news articles and a couple YouTube videos.

That is today's episode on Nayib Bukele, uh, the current president of El Salvador. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and have a great day, have fun learning English.