El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele: U.S. Can’t ‘Lecture’ About Democracy After Trump Colorado Ruling

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele condemned the United States on Wednesday after the Colorado Supreme Court blocked former President Donald Trump from the state presidential election ballot on Tuesday evening.

The Supreme Court, in a divided 4-3 ruling, declared on Tuesday that the U.S. Constitution contained a provision against “insurrection” that disqualified Trump as a presidential candidate, citing the January 6 congressional ballot.

“The court found by clear and convincing evidence that President Trump engaged in insurrection as those terms are used in Section Three” of the Fourteenth Amendment, the ruling read in part – even though Trump has not been convicted of insurrection, sedition, or any related crime, nor is he facing any criminal charges on those grounds. The ruling has elicited widespread outrage on the American right, including from some of Trump’s opponents. Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced on Tuesday that he would withdraw from the Colorado state primary if Trump did not appear alongside him, calling the ruling “illegal” and “disastrous.”

“Today’s decision is the latest election interference tactic to silence political opponents and swing the election for whatever puppet the Democrats put up this time by depriving Americans of the right to vote for their candidate of choice,” Ramaswamy declared.

Trump is currently the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary race, enjoying a lead of upwards of 50 percent against his top competitors, including Ramaswamy, in some polls. In national polls, Trump sees a growing lead against incumbent President Joe Biden. A Harvard/Harris poll published on Tuesday documented a five-point lead for Trump against Biden — 47 to 42 percent — and significant growing support among independent voters.

Bukele — himself facing a presidential election in 2024 in which he enjoys an over 60-percent lead against his closest opponent — weighed in on Wednesday, writing on social media, “The United States has lost its ability to lecture any other country about ‘democracy.'”

The United States has lost its ability to lecture any other country about “democracy”. https://t.co/kvtfas9bcC

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 20, 2023

Bukele enjoyed friendly ties with Trump during the latter’s presidency, which he fostered by asserting that he wished to stop emigration from his country to help it thrive. Bukele also refused “black checks” from the U.S. government, insisting American financing was “their money, not ours” and that he sought to make El Salvador prosperous enough not to need foreign aid. Bukele then redirected his foreign policy to China, boasting million-dollar “donations” from the Communist Party.

Since refocusing his foreign policy on China and the election of Biden in America, Bukele has been sharply critical of the United States. He has been especially vocal regarding attempts to prevent Trump from running for reelection, which he is constitutionally permitted to seek, as any eligible American citizen is legally allowed a maximum of two presidential terms. In August 2022, Bukele was quick to condemn an FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, imagining on social media the global reaction to any similar exercise of law enforcement power in El Salvador.

“What would the U.S. Government say if OUR police raided the house of one of the main possible contenders of OUR 2024 presidential election?” Bukele wrote.

Following Trump’s indictment in a Manhattan court in late March, Bukele similarly urged the public to imagine his own government using criminal proceedings to hurt the election chances of an opposition leader and dismissed America’s moral status on the world stage.

“Think what you want about former President Trump and the reasons he’s being indicted,” Bukele wrote on Twitter. “But just imagine if this happened in any other country, where a government arrested the main opposition candidate.”

“Sadly, it’ll be very hard for U.S. Foreign Policy to use arguments such as ‘democracy’ and ‘free and fair elections’ or try to condemn ‘political persecution’ in other countries from now on,” he added.

Sadly, it’ll be very hard for US Foreign Policy to use arguments such as “democracy” and “free and fair elections”, or try to condemn “political persecution” in other countries, from now on 🏻‍♂️ https://t.co/HQTv0vUuA2

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 31, 2023

El Salvador’s relationship with America, a traditional ally, has been frayed under Biden, as the latter has criticized Bukele for his ongoing war on drug gangs. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared himself “concerned” in 2022 that Bukele was threatening “vital civil liberties, including freedom of the press, due process, and freedom of speech” with provisions limiting journalists under a de facto state of martial law known as a “state of exception.” The “state of exception” has allowed for tens of thousands of arrests of young men identified as linked to Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and other organized criminal gangs. Bukele has also allowed the use of mass trials to process those prosecuted, alarming international human rights activists.

Bukele’s war on gangs, according to reports from El Salvador written even in outlets critical of Bukele, has resulted in a notable decrease in gang-related crime. In February, the critical newspaper El Faro conceded that criminal gangs “do not exist” in El Salvador anymore as they used to, allowing civilians to open businesses without threats, use their public parks for children’s events, and enjoy what is considered normal life in other countries. As a result, polls show Salvadorans overwhelmingly support Bukele for reelection, even though the nation’s constitution technically prohibits him from running again. He is running following a Supreme Court decision that found that an incumbent could run for president again if he steps down six months before his term ends.

RELATED — Law and Order: El Salvador Builds “Mega Prison” to Eradicate Gangs

Presidency of the Republic of El Salvador via Storyful

Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.