El Salvador - 52.23
95
Fighting crime with crime
El Salvador’s current status is characterized by the unique presidency of Nayib Bukele. There has perhaps never been a better case for the existence of benevolent dictatorship than the self-proclaimed “World’s Coolest Dictator.” While El Salvador performed very well in the democracy category, Bukele has displayed a number of authoritarian tendencies. The mission statement of Bukele’s presidency has been to eliminate the influence of cartels in El Salvador, and Bukele has been successful in driving El Salvador’s murder rate to historic lows. However, Bukele has been criticized for his brutal tactics and accused of negotiating with MS-13. Bukele has also worked to revitalize El Salvador’s struggling economy, including by recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender. While Bukele’s economic efforts have been met with middling results, Bukele’s work to eliminate crime cannot be denied. Despite his work, however, there remains much to be done in El Salvador. Cartels are still prolific in El Salvador and remain a significant obstacle to both daily life for Salvadorans and the government. Corruption is endemic, though it has waned to an extent in recent years. Additionally, Bukele’s desire to seek immediate re-election, against the will of the constitution, and his general disregard for separation of powers are concerning.
Human Rights - 28
Third-party groups flagrantly violate human rights often and regularly. El Salvador has functionally abolished the death penalty; the last execution was carried out in 1973. Cartels control towns and neighborhoods in big cities and enforce martial law, regularly carrying out extrajudicial executions. Murders by cartels are so common that the real murder rate is believed to be two to three times higher than the official one. However, both the real and reported murder rates are declining as cartel influence wanes in Belize. However, the declining influence of cartels is largely in part due to the brutal tactics of police. Hundreds of extrajudicial executions have been attributed to Belizean anti-cartel units and police rarely bring in captured cartel members alive. Police are known to strafe cartel hideouts with attack helicopters and on several occasions, police have barricaded and burned cartel hideouts. Police detained over two thousand people for violating COVID lockdowns. Quarantine-related detainees were held in temporary detention centers without proper social distancing, frequently for up to forty days. These quarantine centers frequently lacked adequate access to drinking water and cleaning supplies. The government is cagey about the country’s murder rate to the point of silencing organizations claiming to know the true murder rate. El Salvador does not recognize same-sex couples whatsoever.
Democracy - 84
The president is directly elected. President Bukele won with a large majority but voter turnout was only 52%. The assembly is directly elected. Voters were not educated about ranked-choice voting so most only voted for one candidate. Elections are free and fair but voter turnout is low and voters are poorly educated. Belize is under a two-party system but party formation is not limited and third parties hold some seats in the assembly in local offices. The influence of the two main parties are waning; a third-party candidate won more than ten percent of the vote in the presidential election for the first time in 2019. Organized crime exerts significant sway over the government, especially local governments. Cartels run some entire towns. The Bukele administration has been accused of engaging in secret negotiations with MS-13.
Freedom - 73
Journalists regularly face intimidation from cartels. Cartels killed several journalists throughout 2020 for investigating their activities. As a result, many journalists sefl-censor or don’t cover cartel activity. Journalists occasionally face intimidation when covering government corruption, sometimes resulting in self-censorship. Trade unionists are frequently harassed. Riot police occasionally violently suppress peaceful protests. Police detained over two thousand people for violating COVID lockdowns. These quarantine violators were held in special detention centers for up to forty days that often lacked adequate access to drinking water and cleaning supplies. In addition, they did not allow for adequate social distancing, fostering the spread of COVID. All drugs are illegal in El Salvador but Salvadoran drug laws go widely unenforced. El Salvador shall issue gun ownership licenses for semi-automatic handguns and rifles, but Salvadoran gun laws go widely unenforced as illegal fully-automatic weapons are easy to obtain in El Salvador. El Salvador received a five-point penalty for draconian and excessive COVID lockdown measures.
Economy - 51
Health - 49
El Salvador has a life expectancy of 73 years and an infant mortality rate of 1.14%. 24.6% of Salvadorans are obese and 8.9% are malnourished. Virtually all Salvadorans have access to healthcare but outside of major cities, it is of generally poor quality. El Salvador faces consistent problems of healthcare workers being undertrained. 88% of Salvadorans have access to clean, running water.
Corruption - 21
Cartels exert significant sway over the Salvadoran government, but this control has waned, especially under the Bukele administration. The government is taking major steps to combat corruption, as the federal government has largely shaken cartel influence and has purged a number of corrupt officials. Petty corruption remains rampant as public contracts are impossible to obtain without corruption. Anti-cartel units are virtually the only police in the country that are not subject to corruption.
Competency - 36
The government has been making major strides against the cartel but its influence still looms large over El Salvador. The government is failing to provide for the people, as Salvadoran healthcare remains severely lacking. The government is failing to control corruption, but they have made strides against it in recent years.
Future - 76
The government has been successfully shaking the influence of and cracking down on organized crime. El Salvador’s brutal tactics to eliminate the cartel were considered in other categories. The government has made major strides against corruption.
Actions Abroad - 61
The El Salvador-based MS-13 gang operates in other countries, namely Guatemala, the United States, and Mexico. However, El Salvador has recently been making attempts to curtail the influence of organized crime, including MS-13. El Salvador has cooperated with American anti-terrorism campaigns in Central America. El Salvador has generally close relations with the United States and sent ten rotations of troops to Iraq during the Second Gulf War. El Salvador recognizes Jaun Guaidó as the true president of Venezuela and does not recognize the Maduro government as legitimate. El Salvador recognizes both Israel and Palestine. El Salvador is generally isolationist otherwise.
1.3% of Salvadorans live below the international poverty line and 22.3% live below the national poverty line. 6.82% of Salvadorans are unemployed. El Salvador has a very high economic disparity. El Salvador’s minimum wage varies by sector, but the lowest is $243 per month and the highest is $369 per month. El Salvador’s universal healthcare system is very mediocre. Virtually the entire population of the country has access to healthcare, but outside of a few major cities, it is of very poor quality. El Salvador struggles across the country with undertrained healthcare workers. Unlike many other developing countries, El Salvador does not face staffing issues in its hospitals but most healthcare workers in El Salvador are undertrained. The Salvadoran government has approved the use of cryptocurrency as legal tender. The Salvadoran economy shrunk 7.9% in 2020 and grew 2.7% in 2019.