Page 6 - aruba-today-20240105

A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 5 January 2024

El Salvador's Nayib Bukele takes his presidential reelection

campaign beyond the country's borders

By MARCOS ALEMAN correct. We are no longer
Associated Press the world death capital
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador and we achieved it in re-
(AP) — El Salvador's Nayib cord time. Today we are a
Bukele took his presidential model of security and no
reelection campaign be- one can doubt it. There are
yond his tiny country's bor- the results. They are irrefut-
ders this week to capitalize able."
on his rising profile across Bukele enjoys sky-high rates
Latin America, and he af- of approval in El Salvador.
firmed that he doesn't as- He boosted his country's
pire to indefinite reelection. international image host-
During a two-hour forum ing events like the Central
late Wednesday on the American and Caribbean
platform X, Bukele accused Games in July and the Miss
foreign critics of his contro- Universe competition in No-
versial policies — including vember.
the Inter-American Com- On Wednesday, Bukele
mission on Human Rights said that he had spoken
and international institu- with one such foreign poli-
tions like it — of trying to tician in a country where
keep El Salvador and other the people were fed up
developing nations down. with the traditional po-
Bukele was granted a Supporters greet El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele after he presented himself as the presiden- litical parties: Argentina's
six-month leave from the tial candidate for the New Ideas Party in San Salvador, El Salvador, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. newly elected Javier Milei,
presidency starting in De- Associated Press the self-declared "anar-
cember to run for reelec- sion called on El Salvador criticized Bukele for the can countries reflected cho-capitalist" who raced
tion — despite a constitu- to lift the state of emer- lack of due process and how his success has reso- to victory campaigning
tional ban on reelection. gency instituted in March other abuses. But the re- nated beyond El Salvador's against what he called Ar-
Congress approved the 2022 that allowed Bukele's sulting drop in homicides borders, even in the face of gentina's political caste.
president's selection of his administration to step up its has cemented support for sometimes withering criti- In a two-hour conversation,
private secretary to be the fight against the country's Bukele among a majority of cism from the United States Bukele said, he told Milei
country's interim leader. powerful gangs. The state Salvadorans. and Europe. that he would have to con-
The Supreme Court, of emergency suspends Bukele has declared El Sal- His pushback against crit- front a system that did not
stacked with justices se- some fundamental rights vador the safest country in ics Wednesday echoed agree with him.
lected by Bukele's allies in like police having to inform Latin America, just a few his 2023 speech before the "I told him that I wished
Congress, ruled in 2021 that people of the reason for years after it was listed as United Nations General As- him luck, we wish him the
Bukele could seek a sec- their arrest or give them ac- one of the world's deadli- sembly, in which he said best and hope that he can
ond five-year term in the cess to an attorney. est. Many people have that if El Salvador had lis- overcome those obstacles,
Feb. 4 election. Some 74,000 people have expressed a willingness tened to his critics it would the obstacle of the reality,
Asked Wednesday if he been arrested under to overlook the erosion of return to being the world's as well as the obstacle of
would seek to change the Bukele's war on gangs. checks and balances in ex- murder capital. the system that is going to
constitution to allow his in- Judges later freed more change for safe neighbor- "Today, I come to tell you try to block him and that
definite reelection, Bukele than 7,000 of them. hoods. that that debate is over," isn't going to let him make
said he would not. Human rights groups in El His exchanges with people Bukele said at the U.N. "The the changes that he wants
In April 2023, the commis- Salvador and abroad have from a host of Latin Ameri- decisions we took were to make," Bukele said.q

President of Belarus gives himself immunity from
prosecution and limits potential challengers

kashenko of Belarus signed Lukashenko's power and Belarus was rocked by
a new law Thursday that eliminating potential chal- mass protests during Lu-
gives him lifelong immunity lengers in the country's next kashenko's controversial
from criminal prosecution presidential election, which re-election in August 2020
and prevents opposition is due to take place in 2025. for a sixth term, which the
leaders living abroad from The law significantly tight- opposition and the West
running in future presiden- ens requirements for presi- condemned as fraudulent.
tial elections. dential candidates and At that time, Belarusian
The law theoretically ap- makes it impossible to elect authorities detained more
plies to any former presi- opposition leaders who fled than 35,000 people, many
In this photo provided by the Belarusian Presidential Press dent and members of his or to neighboring countries of whom were tortured in
Service, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko attends the her family. In reality, it only is in recent years. Only citi- custody or left the country.
New Year Eve's children's charity event held as part of the relevant to the 69-year-old zens of Belarus who have Lukashenko also has been
country's charity campaign Our Children, in the Palace of the Lukashenko, who has ruled permanently resided in the accused of involvement in
Republic in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023.
Associated Press Belarus with an iron fist for country for at least 20 years the illegal transfer of chil-
almost 30 years. and have never had a resi- dren from Russian-occu-
By YURAS KARMANAU TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The new measure appears dence permit in another pied towns in Ukraine to
Associated Press President Alexander Lu- aimed at further shoring up country are eligible to run. Belarus.q