Dictators Aren't Cool or How El Salvador Became The World's Largest Prison

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has fashioned himself the "world's coolest dictator."

There is nothing cool about dictators. They're just cruel. 

Under Bukele's rule, El Salvador has become noted for two things - adopting Bitcoin as its national currency and earning the distinction of having the highest prison population rate in the world. 

Bukele's regime is ostensibly cracking down on MS-13. In reality, the 41-year old Bukele tolerates MS-13 and uses it as a pretense to arbitrarily detain ordinary citizens. An estimated 60,000 ordinary citizens have been detained. Some are arrested because it is claimed they are "looking suspicious" or "acting nervous."

One of these ordinary citizens is Walber Rodriguez who was arrested last May and is being held without trial accused of being a member of MS-13 even though he has not been specifically accused of engaging in any activity:

Once it became clear that Walber had been caught up in the crackdown, the Rodriguez family's hope for a quick release evaporated. 

By this point, they had discovered that they were not alone. All around them in Sisiguayo and the surrounding Bajo Lempa valley, people were arrested with no satisfactory explanation. The sons of two cousins who lived in a nearby community, Mario and Pablo, were among the first to be taken; their boys were handcuffed while drinking beers after a soccer game. Another neighbor was arrested even though he'd obtained and was carrying around his spotless police record, believing, wrongly, that such a thing would matter to police. He was detained holding his one-year-old in his arms.

The Biden Administration takes a dim view of Bukele and has sanctioned members of his inner circle. But Bukele himself isn't likely going anywhere anytime soon as he has an approval rating of nearly 88% and is seeking re-election in 2024. Mind you, given Bukele's authoritarian advance it would be fair to say the high approval rating doesn't represent the authentic views of the Salvadoran people. Who wants to disapprove of a leader if it means being arrested to be falsely branded a terrorist?

Not surprisingly, Bukele's authoritarianism has earned him a fan in Tucker Carlson who interviewed him last month.