As expected, Nayib Bukele has been re-elected president of El Salvador, with his party "Nuevas Ideas" garnering over 87% of the national vote. Fireworks have been set off, and Bukele is set to give a speech later tonight in the once dangerous "Centro Historico" area of the capital city San Salvador.
Since 2015 El Salvador has transformed itself from the murder capital of the world into the safest county in the Americas, and it was the first sovereign nation to experiment with adopting Bitcoin as legal tender back in 2021. Since then, the nation's infrastructure has been steadily advancing, and tourism has skyrocketed.
What will five more years of Bukele mean for El Salvador, its citizens, and the rest of the world?
A Controversial Leader
It would seem that Bukele started off his first term as more of a controversial figure, but has since won over a lot of the population thanks to the results his party has delivered.
I have talked to locals who were initially put off by his alleged use of force to win votes in congress, and his war on the gangs that landed some innocent people in jail.
That said, almost nobody denies the fact that the security situation in El Salvador has improved dramatically. Thanks to Bukele's tough stance on crime, the homicide rate has plummeted all the way from 103 per 100,000 civilians in 2015 to less than 2 per 100,000 in 2024.
Despite the complaints being leveled against him, tourism has never been higher, new infrastructure is being built out across the country, and the people seem to be in relatively good spirits.
The bottom line is that if you want to implement major changes in a country, some people are going to be unhappy with you. What matters is if you manage to improve the greater good, which Bukele seems to have done with some non-conventional ideas.
Bitcoin Investment
In 2021 the Salvadoran government made the controversial decision to start investing in Bitcoin. According to nayibtracker dot com the nation now owns close to three thousand $BTC! What could the leaders of El Salvador do with this investment over the next few years?
Due to another impending expansion of the fiat money supply, we can assume that inflation will only get worse, and that the price of Bitcoin will go much higher during Bukele's second term. This gives him the opportunity to use the profits from Bitcoin to improve the nation's infrastructure, or to help citizens directly.
Back in the fall of 2021 when Bitcoin was made legal tender, the government airdropped $30 worth of Bitcoin to every citizen in the country who installed the Chivo app. As the cost of living continues to rise in the coming years, Bukele could drop more even more Bitcoin to the people to help them pay for basic goods and services.
As long as fiat currencies remain standing, this strategy may work. But given the world's unsustainable debt situation, and nations' overt plans to launch CBDCs, we need to prepare for a reset of the financial system, and the likelihood that other currencies will begin competing with Bitcoin in a new crypto-based economy.
Improved Infrastructure
In the last few years El Salvador has seen a significant improvement in infrastructure.
New shopping centers have been constructed, highways have been paved, and libraries have been erected. There is no denying that China has played a huge role in this.
In addition to the investments China is making in El Salvador, we will likely see an influx of other foreign investment in the coming years, thanks to the region's embrace of free market money, technological innovation, and capitalism.
El Salvador could very well end up becoming one of the world's epicenters in the new economy if it remains open to cryptocurrency, continues to respect property rights, and invites innovators into the country.
What is happening in El Salvador is only part of a much bigger movement. We only have to look to Argentina, which has been very crypto-friendly as of late, to see that more and more people are desiring real change, and an alternative to the proposed socialist dystopia.
Conclusion
As per the latest official tallies, president Bukele and his party "Nuevas Ideas" have won over 85% of the national vote. This means that the country should remain a safe destination for citizens and tourists alike, thanks to the party's tough stance on crime. The region's infrastructure should also continue to improve, as the nation attracts more innovative entrepreneurs, and those who support free market money.
Until next time...
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