Central America

Brazilian deputies visit Cecot and highlight security results

Photo: Diario El Salvador

December 18 |

Brazilian federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro highlighted yesterday on social networks the security results obtained by the government of President Nayib Bukele. The Brazilian legislator was part of the delegation of seven parliamentarians who visited the country to see the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) and all the security policies implemented in the last four years.

He also reiterated that President Bukele has a 90% approval rating from the population and that the security measures implemented with the Territorial Control Plan (PCT) and the exception regime have allowed El Salvador to accumulate more than 500 days without homicides during his administration, in which more than 75,000 criminals, mainly gang members, have also been arrested.

The implementation of security strategies, reforms to regulations so that criminals do not leave prisons, the alignment of powers and the dignification of the security forces are some of the aspects that Bolsonaro highlighted, so he reiterated that this has allowed President Bukele to achieve the transformation of El Salvador.

“What Nayib Bukele did is everything we proposed in terms of security in the Brazilian congress. The mentality is the same: arrested criminals do not commit crimes in society. With greater punishability, the economic theory of the criminal becomes more dangerous for him to commit a crime. Bukele managed to do this by electing a group of aligned parliamentarians and purging mainly the radical left in the elections,” Bolsonaro wrote in X.

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The congressman stressed that, thanks to the exception regime, El Salvador went from being the most violent country in the world in 2015 to a benchmark in security and rivaling Switzerland for the number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

“Today, if a police officer finds a notorious mafioso, he can arrest him for up to six months, the time the Public Prosecutor’s Office has to present the first evidence against the accused. The rule is that the accused responds to the arrested case (in Brazil it is the opposite). Between criminals and good people, today El Salvador cares about good citizens. That is why in Brazil there are criminals every day who have criminal records, who walk around the block and are arrested countless times; no longer in El Salvador,” he said.

President Bukele managed to decrease the criminal actions of gangs since he began his administration in 2019, and 2023 is about to close as the safest year in the history of El Salvador, an aspect that has paved the way for sectors such as the economy, tourism and education to develop and strengthen; to this effect the president considered important the dignification of law enforcement and has emphasized that none of the above would be possible without them.

Bolsonaro pointed out: “With more personnel, better salaries, with social security support, technology, support from the president and the population, as well as legal support, the police will fight the initial battle. Then comes social support: health, education, employment. Before, it made no sense to build schools in a gang-dominated area […]. Tourism also receives special attention as an economic engine.

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Related Topics:Brazil CECOT Central America El Salvador

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Panama Will Not Be Threatened, President Says Amid Rising Tensions With China

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino warned on Thursday that his country “will not allow itself to be threatened,” while expressing hope that tensions with China will ease following the cancellation of a contract allowing a Hong Kong-based company to operate ports along the Panama Canal.

Earlier this week, China, through its Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said Panama would pay “a high price” for annulling the concession that has allowed a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings to manage two ports on the interoceanic waterway since 1997.

The decision has angered Beijing, which, according to Bloomberg, has urged its state-owned companies to suspend negotiations on new projects with the Central American country.

“Panama is a dignified country and will not allow itself to be threatened by any nation on Earth,” Mulino said during a press conference when asked about China’s warnings.

However, the president added that he hopes the situation will not escalate. “I hope this does not spiral further; there is no reason for it to do so,” he said.

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The ruling by Panama’s Supreme Court came amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to reclaim the Panama Canal—built by the United States—arguing that it is “under Beijing’s control.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian warned on Wednesday that Beijing “will firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.”

Central America

Bukele’s Approval Rating Climbs to 91.9% in El Salvador, Survey Shows

Approval of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele reached 91.9% at the end of 2025, up from 85.2% recorded in midyear, according to a survey conducted by the research unit of La Prensa Gráfica (LPG Datos) and published on Thursday.

According to the newspaper, the high approval rating is “mainly driven by improvements in security.” Of those surveyed, 62.8% said they “strongly approve” of Bukele’s performance, while 29.1% said they “somewhat approve.”

The main reasons cited for approving the president were the perception that security in the country has improved (33%), followed by the belief that the government has delivered changes and overall improvements (14.3%), and the view that Bukele has done a good job in general (11%), the report said.

Meanwhile, 5.9% of respondents said they disapprove of Bukele’s administration. Among them, 25.4% said that improvements have been limited solely to security, 5.6% cited a lack of transparency, and 2.8% pointed to arbitrary detentions.

“The approval of President Nayib Bukele stands at one of the highest levels since the start of his administration,” La Prensa Gráfica noted. According to the survey’s historical data, Bukele’s peak popularity was recorded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when his annual average approval reached 92.5%, a figure even higher than that seen during the state of emergency.

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Regarding campaign promises, 64.2% of Salvadorans believe that Bukele “is fulfilling the promises he made,” while 22.9% say he has “partially fulfilled” them, and 6.6% say he has “not fulfilled his commitments.”

When asked about the main “failure” of the president’s administration, 37% said there were none, while 10% pointed to the economy.

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Laura Fernández Says She Will ‘Never’ Allow Authoritarianism in Costa Rica

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Fernández, the political heir of outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves, has been accused by her opponents of seeking to steer the country toward authoritarian rule through her hardline proposals against drug trafficking and plans to reform state institutions.

“I, as the new president of the Republic, will never allow authoritarianism or arbitrariness—things that no one wants in Costa Rica,” Fernández said to cheers from her supporters gathered at a hotel in the capital.

The 39-year-old political scientist criticized her rivals for centering their campaign on what she described as a narrative of “authoritarianism and dictatorship.”

“They tried to scare voters, but the electorate did not fall into the trap,” she said.

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Without offering details, Fernández acknowledged that her administration will seek to change the country’s “political rules of the game,” in what she described as a necessary step for Costa Rica, one of Latin America’s most stable democracies.