Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Brazil’s former right-wing president, modeled his campaign on El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who transformed his country by mass imprisoning tens of thousands of young men. Bolsonaro won Brazil’s first-round election and is favored to become the eighth consecutive right-wing leader in Latin America to adopt Bukele’s hard-line tactics. Presidents in Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Peru are replicating his crackdowns, often using slick social media videos to promote megaprisons and demonize targeted youth.
Eight countries are building maximum-security prisons, with dozens of officials touring El Salvador’s 40,000-capacity facility. U.S. President Trump supports Bukele as a regional model. Since 2019, homicides in El Salvador have dropped 95%, and Bukele’s approval rating remains near 90%. Harvard professor Steven Levitsky calls it a “miracle” but warns the model may end badly.
Bukele’s approach—mass detentions, social media vilification, and dismantling democratic checks—has created a new authoritarian template for the region.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing