Posted on 03/04/2023 2:00:43 PM PST by nickcarraway
The relationship between the United States and its hemispheric neighbors has long been a critical driver of both foreign and domestic policy. Since the Monroe Doctrine, the United States has, to varying degrees, sought to instruct the nations of South and Central America on how to manage their affairs. Today, Americans must reverse that paradigm and look to a small Central American nation as a blueprint for restoring law and order to its rightful place in governance: El Salvador.
When Salvadorans elected President Nayib Bukele in 2019, they gave him a clear enough mandate: Fix things. Since the conclusion of the Salvadoran Civil War, which raged from 1979 to 1992, El Salvador has experienced modest economic growth. However, persistent corruption and inflation hampered quality of life, and emigration to the United States drained the nation of productive members of its labor force.
Bukele directly addressed the problems facing El Salvador when he took power. As he told VICE News in an interview, "The gangs have been running this parallel state. They charge taxes, they control territory, they provide security. But I'm not [going to] convert their de facto power into formal power."
Bukele was referring primarily to two gangs, MS-13 and Barrio 18, which de facto controlled vast swaths of El Salvador and brought drug and sex trafficking, violent crime, and extortion to every community. Traveling between Salvadoran towns put lives at stake, as gangs controlled public transportation. MS-13, in particular, has also exported its destructive violence abroad, including to the United States.
But rather than take the approach typical of far too many American politicians—talking about the problem, creating committees to study it, and ultimately doing nothing to solve it—Bukele took decisive action. He promptly launched the popular Territorial Control Plan to rein in gang violence.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Weird headline. El Salvador is in the Americas. U.S. Bukele.
Agreed. El Salvador could become an exit strategy someday.
The Salvadoran ladies at my church think he’s the cutest thing.
What do you think?
I’m just glad since the death of Magufui there might be an admirable world leader.
I think he’s a little too shiny to be seriously cute. After my daughter’s terrible experience with her last boyfriend, I don’t trust someone whose teeth are so perfect.
But for real, I understand why Salvadorans, including expats, really want him to have the magic touch to take control back from the gangs. I understand why they support the new and very heavy-handed lockup policy. However, I’m dubious about its being the solution for the long term.
Also, as always happens with a Latin American (or anywhere else) politician, there are rumors that his family is getting really rich on things like the prison construction contracts.
I’m prepared to say “shows some pretty good signs of being admirable, especially in context,” but I think it will be very hard to live up to the expectations of what decent people are left in El Salvador.
The Monroe Doctrine is a dead letter with Chinese operating the Panama Canal and Chinese businessmen taking over businesses all over South and North America ad Iranian warships visiting South American ports.
We had our version of Bukele.
The power structure blew his brains out one Friday long ago.
They’ll get around to Bukele too.
It will be pinned on a gang, I imagine.
How much longer can China keep that up?
He’s a Muslim, but he KICKS ASS!
As long as we let them. The Chinese come into a country and offer to upgrade infrastructure on an “easy terms” contract which the country could pay off if it were not corrupt. When it goes into default the Chinese repossess it and own the ports and transport systems in ever more countries.
He’s not Muslim. His father converted to Islam, and his mother is Christian, but it sounds like he doesn’t adhere to any specific religion.
China has their own problems right now.
“He’s not Muslim. His father converted to Islam, and his mother is Christian, but it sounds like he doesn’t adhere to any specific religion.”
Either way, he definitely KICKS ASS. A buddy of mine, a while ago, was HAPPY to see the prior PM of Nigeria. He was a Christian (the country is basically 50/50), but the prior Christian was corrupt as hell. Winds up that the Muslim, back then, did a good job.
People getting rich on extortion and murder, or people getting rich on jailing extortionists and murderers. I know which I'd prefer to see in my society.
I am old. Please translate the word “based.” It does not make sense in this context, (the headline).
We abdicated the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt corollary when we let the Brits “take back” the Malvinas from our anti-communist Allies in Argentina.
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