a lesson in choosing to think and act differently than has been the case; 

 

President Nayib Bukele described El Salvador’s transformation as something that could not be explained by human effort alone. “Our war against poverty didn’t have a single chance. I don’t know how to explain it, more than because it was God’s hand.”

The transformation President Bukele is referring to began with crime reduction. El Salvador recorded 2,398 homicides in 2019, the year he took office.

By 2024, that number had fallen to 114, a murder rate of 1.9 per 100,000 people. Once widely considered the most violent country in the world, El Salvador is now among the safest in the region. 

To achieve this, Bukele implemented the Territorial Control Plan, declared a state of exception that suspended aspects of due process, and arrested more than 96,000 gang members.

Many were imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a high-security facility equipped with cell phone jammers to prevent gang leaders from continuing to operate from inside the prison.

Improved security has led to an improved economy. Tourism has returned to the country in significant numbers. In 2019, El Salvador hosted approximately 1.7 million tourists...........more.........