The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, criticized his country’s press on Thursday, February 22, and echoed conspiracy theories during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a mega event that brings together right-wing politicians and activists inside and outside the US.
Bukele, who was received with cheers by dozens of conference attendees, He also defended his controversial victory in the country’s last presidential and legislative elections, where he received 84% of support amid complaints of irregularities by the opposition.
“We had free and fair elections and we achieved a sweeping victory (…) the people of El Salvador have already woken up and you can too,” said the Salvadoran politician.
During his speech, the president of the Central American country He criticized the Salvadoran press on several occasions, accusing it of being “fake news” and of receiving financing from Hungarian billionaire George Soros and “global elites.”
“Democracy needs a free press, but report on the facts and not be puppets of those who finance them,” said the president.
Soros is a common target not only of Bukele but of several politicians, especially on the far right, both in the US and in Europe. The American organization Anti Defamation League has denounced that criticism of Soros and conspiracy theories that point to him replicate long-standing “anti-Semitic myths.”
Nayib Buikele and CPAC:
“They say globalism comes to die a CPAC. I’m here to tell you that in El Salvador, it’s already dead. But if you want globalism to die here too, you must be willing to unapologetically fight once morest everything and everyone that stands for it.” pic.twitter.com/WLC13EE05g
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 23, 2024
Bukele’s intervention at CPAC, where he defended his governance and encouraged Americans to “follow the example of El Salvador,” comes days following his country’s Electoral Court ratified his controversial victory in the elections.
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On February 18, the TSE gave the final scrutiny of the legislative elections, a week following their start and amid multiple complaints of irregularities.
Dozens of Salvadoran migrants approached the Gaylord Convention Center and Hotel, where the CPAC is taking place, this Thursday to show support and listen to the Central American president’s speech.
The president’s speech was interrupted on several occasions by shouts of “Bukele, Bukele” and “we love you” from the audience.
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Among the crowd was Juana Reyes, a Salvadoran living in the US and a waitress at the hotel where the conference is being held. Wearing a bright blue shirt printed with Bukele’s face under her uniform and accompanied by three other hotel employees, the woman approached to listen to who she calls “the best president in the world.”
“Before I didn’t know anything regarding presidents or politics, now we are in politics. “We feel proud to see this president,” she told EFE the Salvadoran
Among the spectators were also Americans, such as Victor Timoshenko, a New York-based lawyer of Russian descent, who in turn was wearing a Bukele shirt, but hanging from his arm.
“Bukele sounds more like a president than any other American leader I have seen in the last 40 years,” the man said. “He is the first president who has common sense, like no other in the US and the West.”
CPAC, which runs through the weekend, takes place just outside Washington DC
The last time Bukele visited the US capital was in 2021, shortly following President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The president does not have an official agenda in the US, according to what they informed EFE embassy sources, except for his visit to CPAC on Thursday, February 22.
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