It seems impossible for the FT to write about El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele without resorting to condescension and wilful hyperbole (“El Salvador cult grows around strongman set for second term”, Report, February 3).
There is no more a cult around Bukele than there is around the hapless Boris Johnson or even Churchill (with endless hagiographic films, TV shows and books). Is it wrong to revere a smart young leader who managed to transform a desperate situation impacting his citizens with the only means at his disposal? As someone who has frequently worked in El Salvador, I cannot quite describe the joy of walking peacefully down the street, of knowing my friends and colleagues will be safe from murder and extortion.
With the prospect of two bald men fighting over a comb (to steal from Jorge Luis Borges) this year in the US, I suggest the sneering Anglosphere could learn a lot from a small but plucky Central American country.
Emily Brearley
Founder and Chief Executive, Solution42. Org, Washington, DC, US
