Nayib Bukele enjoys very strong popularity after jostling traditional parties. But his authoritarian inclinations are worth vehement critics from his opponents and the international community.
Le Monde with AFP
Thousands of people demonstrated on Sunday 17 October on the streets of San Salvador to protest the President, Nayib Bukele, including his decision to make Bitcoin the second official currency of the country.
“Bitcoin, the scam”, “no to dictatorship”, “democracy does not negotiate, it defends itself”, “At low autoritarianism,” he was able to read on the placards brandies by the protesters, who shocked the call of several political parties on the left and the right and organizations of all kinds.
“People are starting to be tired of this authoritarian, anti-democratic government. It leads us straight to the chasm with these bad ideas that affect the economy, like this bitcoin,” said Ricardo Navarro, head of the Ecologist Organization Cesta, one of the organizers of the event.
Authoritarian inclinations
The Salvador became the first country to give legal course in Bitcoin, as well as the US dollar, become the country’s official currency two decades ago.
The Government has justified this measure by the possibility of reducing the transfer costs on the amounts sent to the country by the three million salvadorals living abroad, of which 2.5 million in the United States, and which represent 22 % of the country’s gross domestic product.
But the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have expressed their skepticism and warned the Salvador against the risks of the operation.
Nayib Bukele, 40, in power since 2019, has a very strong popularity after jostling the traditional parties that have been dominating Salvadorian politics for thirty years. But its authoritarian inclinations are worth vehement critics from its opponents and the international community.