El Salvador embraces democracy. Why is nation backing an authoritarian?

Across Latin America, it is Salvadorans who embrace democracy more than almost all of their peers do. Support for democratic governance in El Salvador stands at 73%, higher than in any country in the region except Uruguay.

Yet over the past five years of his presidency, Nayib Bukele has systematically weakened the pillars of democracy that this Central American nation has tried to build since the end of a civil war in 1992 – and his approval remains sky-high. That’s in large part because he has ushered in newfound peace in a country riven by brutal gangs, violence, and extortion.