El Salvador: The rise of the ‘world’s coolest dictator’
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 14 August 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Not long ago, the tiny nation of El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world. Now, it has the highest incarceration rate. President Nayib Bukele – who has described himself as “the world’s coolest dictator” – has detained 70,000 gang suspects without trial. His supporters point to the homicide rate, which is down 93 per cent. But Bukele’s critics warn that his hardline policies risk sacrificing democracy for security.
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Guest: Stephen Gibbs, Latin America Correspondent, The Times.
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Transcript
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| 0:27.9 | 18 plus Disney's Apply take time to think. |
| 0:29.9 | 5,000 miles away from the UK is El Salvador. |
| 0:42.0 | It's a tiny nation in Central America, home to just under 7 million people. |
| 0:46.9 | It's known as the Land of Volcanoes, but it also had the unfortunate acclade of being |
| 0:51.8 | the country with the world's highest murder rate. |
| 0:56.8 | At its peak in 2015, the murder rate was 100 times the UK's. |
| 1:04.6 | Until something recently changed. |
| 1:07.4 | El Salvador is making news it has more than half its murder rate by cracking down on gangs. |
| 1:15.8 | Murder is down 90% from its peak, but quickly questions start to be raised about how this |
| 1:23.4 | was happening. |
| 1:24.5 | A video emerged showing hundreds of gang members arrested, handcuffed, and forced them to |
| 1:29.7 | what's been described as a mega jail. |
| 1:32.0 | More than 70,000 people have already been taken into custody, prisoners pack together |
| 1:39.0 | and put on display in footage released by the government. |
| 1:43.6 | That's 1% of the country's entire population in prison, and one man has been credited with |
| 1:49.8 | the crackdown. |
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