Notes

‘Philosopher king’ unlimited. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party have rewritten their country’s constitution to extend presidential terms from five to six years and allow indefinite re-election. The party and their allies in El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly used a supermajority to pass changes to five articles of the constitution in a 57–3 vote on Thursday. The reforms also eliminated runoff elections, meaning future presidents can win with simple pluralities.

Bukele first took office in 2019 and has become a polarizing figure: His tough-on-crime policies have dramatically reduced homicides, making him popular with voters; yet human rights groups have documented that around 3,000 children have been wrongly caught up in his security crackdown—including a 17-year-old girl forced to plead guilty to collaborating with the MS-13 gang despite her denials.

Bukele meanwhile has strong international backing, not least from U.S. President Donald Trump, who’s praised Bukele’s approach to crime and punishment. Last year, Bukele told Time magazine he wouldn’t seek a third term, though now of course he’s free to change his position.

How far could Bukele take things now?