6,391,250 people
Source: Tyranny Tracker
HRF classifies El Salvador as ruled by a hybrid authoritarian regime.
Following a 12-year civil war (1980-1992) between the Salvadoran state and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the Chapultepec Peace Accords launched a transition to peace and democracy that demilitarized internal security, legalized the FMLN as a political party, and established new oversight institutions, including an independent electoral authority. For nearly three decades, El Salvador experienced competitive elections with alternation in power between the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party and the former guerrilla movement, the FMLN. In 2019, the two-party system was upended when former mayor Nayib Bukele became the only candidate not from ARENA or the FMLN to win the Salvadoran presidency since 1984, running as an anti-establishment candidate who promised to break with entrenched corruption and insecurity. After securing overwhelming electoral support, Bukele’s New Ideas party won a legislative supermajority in 2021 and subsequently approved sweeping institutional changes, resulting in New Ideas and its allies ensuring near-total control of political institutions. Parallel to this institutional consolidation, the regime has implemented aggressive “iron fist” security policies under a nationwide state of exception in force since March 2022, suspending constitutional protections and leading to the mass detention of nearly 90,000 people in the campaign against gang violence, according to official figures.
Electoral competition in El Salvador has been significantly skewed in favor of the regime, to the point where any political opposition has a highly unlikely, although realistic chance to win. Although no opposition parties or candidates have been unfairly barred from competition, the regime has enjoyed significant structural advantages, including the extensive use of public resources for campaigning in the last elections and a near-total control of the legislature with a supermajority that enabled the regime to rewrite electoral rules in its favor. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal adopted a largely passive posture, acquiescing to the Constitutional Chamber’s 2021 reinterpretation that allowed presidential reelection, failed to enforce rules on public financing of political parties, and did not monitor the use of state resources in the campaign. In the 2024 general elections, President Nayib Bukele was reelected with 85% of the vote.
Independent media, political leaders, civil society organizations, and members of the general public are seriously and unfairly hindered in their ability to openly criticize or challenge the regime in El Salvador. While some independent voices continue to operate, dissent has become increasingly risky under President Nayib Bukele’s administration. The regime has used a prolonged state of exception, aggressive policing, criminal prosecutions, online intimidation, and the domination of media narratives to silence critics. Media outlets, civil society organizations, and opposition figures face increased surveillance, legal harassment, and fear-based self-censorship.
Institutions in El Salvador largely fail to serve as independent checks on the regime. After gaining a legislative supermajority in 2021, President Nayib Bukele’s bloc restructured the political system by reducing the size of the legislature and municipalities and replacing top judges, including the entire Constitutional Chamber and Attorney General, with loyalists. The 2021 Judicial Career Law forced the removal of hundreds of judges and prosecutors, enabling sweeping executive control over the judiciary. Since then, courts have repeatedly enabled measures that undermine electoral competition — including authorizing immediate presidential reelection despite explicit constitutional prohibitions and later approving amendments eliminating the presidential runoff. Courts have also permitted the use of the ongoing state of exception to prosecute critics and human rights defenders, validating prolonged detentions without due process.
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