El Salvador's Bukele re-elected as president in landslide win

[Bazza]

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-president-bukele-poised-another-landslide-voters-head-polls-2024-02-04/

SAN SALVADOR, Feb 4 (Reuters) - President Nayib Bukele on Sunday secured a thumping victory in El Salvador's elections after voters cast aside concerns about erosion of democracy to reward him for a fierce gang crackdown that transformed security in the Central American country.

His New Ideas party is expected to win almost all of the 60 seats in the legislative body, tightening its grip on the country and bestowing even more sway on Bukele, the most powerful leader in El Salvador's modern history.

"All together the opposition was pulverized," Bukele, standing with his wife on the balcony of the National Palace, told his supporters.
"El Salvador went from being the most unsafe (country) to the safest. Now in these next five years, wait to see what we are going to do," Bukele added.

"We are celebrating, thanking him, thanking God, for getting us out of this gang problem. We don't want to go back to that horrible past," said Guillen, who added she no longer pays $300 in extortion to the gangs every fortnight.

 

[Bazza]

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is set to obliterate the competition in El Salvador's election, gathering over 80% of the votes so far (Reuters). Bukele is just 42 years old, is pro-God, pro-Patriotism and has waged total war on gangs. Here was a speech that Bukele gave to the El Salvadoran military. No wonder why they love him:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754511451690061953

 

[DzynKingRTR]

my coworker is from El Salvador originally. will have to ask her what she thinks when she gets back to work

 

[Bazza]

my coworker is from El Salvador originally. will have to ask her what she thinks when she gets back to work

They just achieved a lower crime rate than the United States.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

They just achieved a lower crime rate than the United States.

That just got me thinking:

Suppose you combined the crime rates and overall populations of Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, Washington DC, and Portland Oregon. Then you compared that collective crime rate to those of other countries.

I wonder where the "sanctuary cities" would come in.

Side note: I'm surprised the gangs didn't assassinate Bukele before he got momentum. I'm sure they tried and are still trying. He must have some awesome security himself.

 

[Bazza]

That just got me thinking:

Suppose you combined the crime rates and overall populations of Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, Washington DC, and Portland Oregon. Then you compared that collective crime rate to those of other countries.

I wonder where the "sanctuary cities" would come in.

Side note: I'm surprised the gangs didn't assassinate Bukele before he got momentum. I'm sure they tried and are still trying. He must have some awesome security himself.

Our problem here is the criminal justice system has become too much of an industry.

Once that happens and there's a lot of money involved......things get way too complicated and with that they become further away from efficiency.

 

[Go Bama]

They just achieved a lower crime rate than the United States.

The US has the 66th highest crime rate in the world.

Here is an interesting site which lists countries by crime rate. A higher number means a higher crime rate.

Crime Rate by Country 2023 - Wisevoter

Crime rates vary widely around the world, with some countries having significantly higher crime rates than others. For example, countries like Venezuela, Honduras, and Papua New Guinea have some of the highest crime rates in the world, with rates of violent crime and homicide far above the...

wisevoter.com

The same article distinguishes between crime rate and violent crime rate. El Salvador has the highest violent crime rate in the world, followed by Venezuela, Lesotho, Columbia, and Guatemala.

Memphis is the most dangerous city in the US, followed by St Louis. Unfortunately, these are two of the three cities I visit most. I was in Memphis yesterday.

 

[crimsonaudio]

The US has the 66th highest crime rate in the world.

Here is an interesting site which lists countries by crime rate. A higher number means a higher crime rate.

Crime Rate by Country 2023 - Wisevoter

Crime rates vary widely around the world, with some countries having significantly higher crime rates than others. For example, countries like Venezuela, Honduras, and Papua New Guinea have some of the highest crime rates in the world, with rates of violent crime and homicide far above the...

wisevoter.com

The same article distinguishes between crime rate and violent crime rate. El Salvador has the highest violent crime rate in the world, followed by Venezuela, Lesotho, Columbia, and Guatemala.

Keep in mind those numbers are from 2021 - IIRC, El Salvador dropped from 48 / 100k to about 6 / 100k in the last two years. Absolutely mind-boggling turnaround.


ETA (murder rate, not total violent crime):

 

[crimsonaudio]

El Salvador Homicide Rate Hits Historic Low Numbers in 2026

Explore how El Salvador homicide rate has severely dropped, transforming from the world’s most violent country to a regional security model.

elsalvadorinfo.net

El Salvador's homicide rate is now about 1/3 of that of the US.

 

[Go Bama]

Keep in mind those numbers are from 2021 - IIRC, El Salvador dropped from 48 / 100k to about 6 / 100k in the last two years. Absolutely mind-boggling turnaround.


ETA (murder rate, not total violent crime):
View attachment 40698

Agree, that is amazing. Can you provide a link?

Also, how did you determine my link was from 2021? I didn't see a date, but I Googled "crime rate by country "2023"."

Thanks for catching this.

 

[AWRTR]

That just got me thinking:

Suppose you combined the crime rates and overall populations of Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, Washington DC, and Portland Oregon. Then you compared that collective crime rate to those of other countries.

I wonder where the "sanctuary cities" would come in.

Side note: I'm surprised the gangs didn't assassinate Bukele before he got momentum. I'm sure they tried and are still trying. He must have some awesome security himself.

I saw a stat where if you took out the top 4 cities for shootings in the US we then have one of the lowest incidents of shootings in the world. I tried to find it again but couldn't locate it so take that info with a grain of salt.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Agree, that is amazing. Can you provide a link?

Lotsa links out there:
Reuters: El Salvador says murders fell 70% in 2023 as it cracked down on gangs

Salvadoran gang crackdown - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Also, how did you determine my link was from 2021? I didn't see a date, but I Googled "crime rate by country "2023"."

Thanks for catching this.

 

[Go Bama]

Lotsa links out there:
Reuters: El Salvador says murders fell 70% in 2023 as it cracked down on gangs

Salvadoran gang crackdown - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View attachment 40699

I don't know how I missed it with that red line under it.

Politicians across Latin America—in countries such as Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, and Peru—have implemented or have called for the implementation of security policies similar to those implemented by Bukele.[9]

This would help the immigration problem tremendously.

I wonder what the life expectancy is of a man that has 75,000 people arrested?

Thanks for the help.

 

[92tide]

That just got me thinking:

Suppose you combined the crime rates and overall populations of Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, Washington DC, and Portland Oregon. Then you compared that collective crime rate to those of other countries.

I wonder where the "sanctuary cities" would come in.

Side note: I'm surprised the gangs didn't assassinate Bukele before he got momentum. I'm sure they tried and are still trying. He must have some awesome security himself.

U.S. Crime Rates and Trends — Analysis of FBI Crime Statistics

The FBI’s latest report on crime trends includes 2023 data for national, regional, and local levels.

www.brennancenter.org

 

[crimsonaudio]

U.S. Crime Rates and Trends — Analysis of FBI Crime Statistics

The FBI’s latest report on crime trends includes 2023 data for national, regional, and local levels.

www.brennancenter.org

Good chart, but older data - new numbers are considerably worse in Memphis:

The only Tennessee city tracked for the Wirepoints report, Memphis had a murder rate of 63.9 homicides per 100,000 people in 2023. A total of 397 homicides were reported in the city last year, up by 38 percent from 2022, when the city saw 288 homicides.

Memphis Has Highest 2023 Murder Rate of All Large U.S. Cities - Tennessee Star

Memphis Has Highest 2023 Murder Rate of All Large U.S. Cities

tennesseestar.com

I wonder what 2023 will show nationwide. I expect it to be an overall drop, but there are some cities that buck that trend.

 

[92tide]

Good chart, but older data - new numbers are considerably worse in Memphis:

Memphis Has Highest 2023 Murder Rate of All Large U.S. Cities - Tennessee Star

Memphis Has Highest 2023 Murder Rate of All Large U.S. Cities

tennesseestar.com

I wonder what 2023 will show nationwide. I expect it to be an overall drop, but there are some cities that buck that trend.

atlanta's violent crime rate was down a good bit in 2023

Murders, violent crime down across Atlanta in 2023, car thefts skyrocketed

Atlanta rang in the New Year with lower rates of violent crime, according to preliminary data from police.

www.fox5atlanta.com

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Thanks for the perspective.

The number I'd been hearing for San Francisco was the percentage increase...which does look nasty. But it's largely a function of the low beginning number. As in, if a murder rate of 7.2 per 100,000 population represents a 32% increase, the rate at the base date was about 5.5 -- among the lowest of the major cities listed. I do, however, wonder what the number would be if Oakland were included in the MSA.

Likewise, the fact that Detroit showed a decrease of 1.2% looks like improvement. Small, but improvement. Until you notice that it's on a base of 49.1 -- abominable.

Then you see New Orleans. I have no words on that one.

 

[2003TIDE]

San Fran could solve their issues pretty easily. They just need to start bussing their repeat offenders to Texas.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Oakland, wow.

CNN: Rising crime risks turning Oakland into a ‘ghost town.’ Newsom is sending in reinforcements

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Oakland, wow.

CNN: Rising crime risks turning Oakland into a ‘ghost town.’ Newsom is sending in reinforcements

It worries me, because my daughter and her partner live there...