Wiki Countries El Salvador

El Salvador

Country profile: how El Salvador fits the patterns described in the main guide, with every development linked to its source.

Last updated . Every factual claim links to its source.

This profile mirrors and is kept in sync with the El Salvador entry in the main guide's case studies.

Overview

Nayib Bukele used the 2021 dawn-session removal of the Supreme Court's constitutional chamber and a rolling state of exception to consolidate power, then in July 2025 abolished presidential term limits entirely, clearing the way for indefinite reelection. His Nuevas Ideas party put that change to its first test by nominating him unopposed in July 2026 to seek a third consecutive term in the February 2027 general election.

Democracy indicators

Liberal Democracy Index, 1990–2025

V-Dem's Liberal Democracy Index for El Salvador was 0.09 in 1990, peaked at 0.47 in 2014, and stood at 0.09 in 2025 (scale 0–1). Dashed lines mark events described in the timeline below. Source: V-Dem via Our World in Data, retrieved November 7, 2026. Compare with other countries in the comparison tool.

Show the data
Country199020152025Regime type, 2025
El Salvador0.090.460.09Electoral autocracy

Timeline

Key dated developments, each linked to the reporting that confirms it. Wording is kept neutral; where a government disputes a characterization, its stated position is included. See also the master timeline across all countries.

  1. Armed soldiers and police briefly occupied the Legislative Assembly after lawmakers stalled a loan for President Nayib Bukele's anti-gang plan. Source: NPR

  2. On its first day, the new Assembly controlled by Bukele's party removed all five Constitutional Chamber judges and the attorney general. Bukele said corrupt officials were being purged; legal experts called the removals unconstitutional. Source: Al Jazeera

  3. The newly appointed Constitutional Chamber ruled that a president may serve two consecutive terms, allowing Bukele to run in 2024. Source: AP via WSLS

  4. After 62 homicides in one day, the Assembly approved a state of emergency limiting assembly and access to lawyers and allowing longer detention. The Assembly president said it would 'confront criminality head-on'. Source: Al Jazeera

  5. Bukele won re-election with about 83% of the vote, despite a constitutional ban on consecutive terms. Source: Voice of America

  6. The U.S. sent about 250 deportees, mostly Venezuelans it accused of gang membership, to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison despite a federal judge's order to halt the flights. Source: NPR

  7. The Assembly passed a Foreign Agents Law requiring recipients of foreign funding to register and taxing that funding at 30%. Human Rights Watch said it 'stifles dissent'. Source: Human Rights Watch

  8. By 57 votes to 3, the Assembly amended the constitution to allow indefinite presidential re-election, lengthen terms to six years and abolish the runoff. Source: AP via Maine Public

  9. Nuevas Ideas nominated Bukele for a third consecutive term in the February 2027 election. Supporters credit the state of emergency for record-low homicides; rights groups report more than 500 deaths in custody. Source: AP via The Daily Gazette

Analytical lens

Concepts on this wiki that help explain this case: Democratic Backsliding and Executive Aggrandizement, Autocratic Legalism.

See also