The Bukele Security Model and Its Ripple Across Latin America

Under President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador has emerged as a prominent case study in combating organized crime across Latin America.

Within a brief span, he dismantled the dominant gangs of Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18 by exercises of near‑total governmental control, which enabled the declaration of emergency powers temporarily suspending certain constitutional protections.

Leaders throughout the region have taken note, promoting the construction of large‑scale detention centers and adopting rhetoric that mirrors Bukele’s “mano dura” approach in their own political campaigns.

Nevertheless, despite the proliferation of similar proposals and the declaration of numerous states of emergency across Latin America and the Caribbean, no country has succeeded in replicating El Salvador’s results.

The experience underscores both the uniqueness of Bukele’s consolidation of power and the challenges faced by other governments attempting to emulate his security model.