# Nayib Bukele ## The power he actually held Nayib Bukele has been president of El Salvador since 1 June 2019. The Assembly extends exception. The Chamber interprets the constitution. The PNC arrests. He is the political principal, not every warden. As of August 2026 he remains in office and is Nuevas Ideas’ candidate for 28 February 2027 after a 2025 reform that allows indefinite re-election and a six-year term. That vote is not this page’s completed Fact. ## What went wrong, and what is proven The sharpest check-and-balance costs that are dated and named are [soldiers in the Assembly, 9 February 2020](/facts/sv-soldiers-2020) and the [1 May 2021 night](/facts/sv-judges-2021) that replaced the Constitutional Chamber and the attorney-general. [September 2021](/facts/sv-reelection-ruling-2021) that packed Chamber allowed consecutive re-election. [31 July 2025](/facts/sv-indefinite-2025) the Assembly removed term limits in a single session. [27 March 2022](/facts/sv-exception-2022) began a state of exception still extended. [Mass detention](/facts/sv-mass-detention-2022) and CECOT are completed confinement instruments. [Custody deaths](/facts/sv-custody-deaths-2023) are a completed prison-health cluster; each death is not a unique gang verdict. [Press pressure](/facts/sv-press-2022) is a dated [civic-space](/drivers/civic-space) cost. The [Bitcoin Law](/facts/sv-bitcoin-2021) is a completed legal-tender statute with opacity and household-volatility paths. Chivo is a completed wallet rollout. [Municipal mergers](/facts/sv-municipal-2023) reduced local councils. The [2026 third-term filing](/facts/sv-third-term-2026) is a completed party instrument under the new text. ## What improved, and how far The [2019 election](/facts/sv-election-2019) and oath are completed rotations. [Territorial Control](/facts/sv-tcp-2019) is a dated security plan. The [2021 legislative landslide](/facts/sv-assembly-2021) is a completed certified supermajority. [Homicide collapse](/facts/sv-homicide-2023) is a measured PNC-and-independent print after the exception — gang guilt is still not proven for every detainee. The [2024 re-election](/facts/sv-election-2024) and [second oath](/facts/sv-inauguration-2024) are completed. [Surf City](/facts/sv-surf-city-2019) and later tourism are dated opening instruments. An [IMF-linked Bitcoin adjustment](/facts/sv-imf-bitcoin-2024) is a completed fiscal-walk-back, not a finding that the 2021 law never sat. ## Shared responsibility, and what the score does not say The score does not say that every detainee is a unique homicide author. It does not say that a homicide drop rebates a packed chamber. It does not convert a 2025 reform into a 2027 certificate. Confidence is high on Assembly votes and exception decrees, and medium where PNC classification, untried prisoners, and later disappearance series sit between a vote and a welfare indicator. Related people are counterpart rulers who actually shared files: Trump, Milei, Sheinbaum, Lula, Biden, Musk, Vance, Guterres, Macron, Netanyahu, von der Leyen, Modi. Official carriers include Casa Presidencial (https://www.presidencia.gob.sv/), the Assembly, and contemporaneous Reuters. A president is powerful enough to own those decrees. He is not powerful enough to be the unique author of a Chamber judgment he packed the night before, and the dossier keeps that line visible. Keep 1 May 2021 off a homicide series. Keep Bitcoin off CECOT. If those distinctions feel pedantic, they are the alternative to a tattoo-prison film and the alternative to a cartoon. The 2019 oath, the 2022 exception, and the 2025 reform are different dates. Treat them as texts. A 2027 filing is not a completed third term. He is still president in August 2026. Ulloa, the Assembly, and the PNC remain on the file so a brand cannot swallow them. ## Dated facts - 2026: Bukele files a Nuevas Ideas pre-candidacy for a third consecutive term. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-third-term-2026. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/bukele-files-third-term-el-salvador-2026-06-29/, https://www.presidencia.gob.sv/. - 2025: The Assembly removes presidential term limits in a single session. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-indefinite-2025. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-indefinite-reelection-bukele-2025-07-31/, https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/. - Homicide prints remain near historic lows in 2024. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-homicide-2024. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-homicides-remain-low-2024-12-31/, https://www.pnc.gob.sv/. - 2024: Tourism arrivals recover as homicide prints stay low. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-tourism-2024. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-tourism-recovers-bukele-2024-12-31/, https://www.mitur.gob.sv/. - 2024: El Salvador agrees IMF-linked limits on public bitcoin purchases. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-imf-bitcoin-2024. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/imf-el-salvador-bitcoin-limits-2024-12-18/, https://www.imf.org/. - 2024: Bukele is sworn in for a second consecutive term. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-inauguration-2024. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/bukele-sworn-in-second-term-el-salvador-2024-06-01/, https://www.presidencia.gob.sv/. - 2024: Bukele wins a landslide consecutive re-election. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-election-2024. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/bukele-wins-el-salvador-reelection-2024-02-04/, https://www.tse.gob.sv/. - 2023: Official and independent tallies record a collapse in homicides after the exception. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-homicide-2023. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-homicides-fall-bukele-2023-12-31/, https://www.pnc.gob.sv/. - 2023: The government advances the Pacific Airport project on the eastern coast. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-airport-2023. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-pacific-airport-bukele-2023-12-01/, https://www.presidencia.gob.sv/. - 2023: The government opens the new National Library in San Salvador. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-biblioteca-2023. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-national-library-bukele-2023-11-13/, https://www.presidencia.gob.sv/. - 2023: The government expands digital public-service and identity tools. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-digital-id-2023. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-digital-government-bukele-2023-08-15/, https://www.presidencia.gob.sv/. - 2023: The Assembly cuts the number of municipalities. https://factrail.ai/facts/sv-municipal-2023. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-reduces-municipalities-bukele-2023-06-01/, https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/. ## Methodology https://factrail.ai/methodology Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/nayib-bukele