U.S. dampens criticism of El Salvador's president as migration overtakes democracy concerns
The Biden administration has sent a high-level delegation to El Salvador to attend President Nayib Bukele's inauguration to a second term
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — In 2021, the Biden administration turned down a meeting request with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele on a trip to the U.S. capital, snubbing the self-proclaimed “world's coolest dictator” for fear a photo op would embolden his attempts to expand his power base.
A little more than three years later, it's Washington that's courting Bukele. A high level delegation led by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and senior White House and State Department officials attended Bukele's inauguration in San Salvador on Saturday to a second term.
“They’ve realized what he’s been doing works,” Damian Merlo, an American adviser to Bukele who is registered to lobby on the Salvadoran government's behalf, said in an interview from El Salvador. “If the U.S. is serious about wanting to address the root causes of migration, then Bukele is someone who has actually done it.”
