SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele stood earlier than tens of hundreds of roaring sports followers with a message: I'm not a dictator.

“They say we live in a dictatorship,” Bukele stated, however “ask bus passengers, people eating in restaurants, waiters. Ask whomever you want. Here in El Salvador, you can go anywhere and it’s totally safe. … Ask them what they think of El Salvador, what they think of our government, what they think of our supposed dictatorship.”

In the opening ceremonies of the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, the comment was met with a burst of applause and, in some swathes of the reworked stadium, chants of “Reelection!”

The video games have provided Bukele – the bitcoin-pushing 41-year-old chief who has sparked a form of populist fervor in his Central American nation and past – a chance to showcase a safer El Salvador within the largest worldwide occasion right here since his authorities entered an all-out battle towards gangs. But the competitors additionally comes as Bukele is accused of systematic human rights violations for that very same crackdown and as his authorities takes steps that eat away on the nation’s democracy.

Observers fear occasions together with the video games – drawing athletes from 35 nations throughout the area – will enable Bukele to save lots of face internationally and present voters he has international assist as he seeks reelection regardless of a constitutional ban on phrases of greater than 5 years.

Often known as “sportswashing” – the usage of sports to divert consideration from controversy and enhance reputations amid wrongdoing – the tactic has been wielded by autocratic governments the world over for many years. The accusation was most just lately slung at Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his funding in golf, the World Cup and different worldwide sporting occasions.

“These are events that give oxygen to the government to distract attention from the huge problems we have and show a face of modernity to the world,” stated Eduardo Escobar, government director of Acción Ciudadana, an unbiased political watchdog group in El Salvador.

Slightly greater than a yr in the past, Bukele introduced the nation would enter a state of emergency, a measure suspending constitutional rights in an effort to confront surging gang violence.

Since, the federal government has detained 70,000 individuals – about one in each hundred Salvadorans – imprisoning them with little entry to due course of. The authorities has labeled them gang members, although as few as 30% have clear gang ties, based on human rights group Cristosal’s estimates.

The strikes have been met with an avalanche of worldwide criticisms, together with by the Biden administration.

Simultaneously, crime in El Salvador has dipped to historic lows, and Bukele’s approval has soared, holding robust at 90% in June, based on a CID Gallup ballot. Bukeleism has gained traction from Colombia to Guatemala and the Dominican Republic as politicians search to imitate him and money in on his recognition.

The dip in violence opened the door for his authorities to host occasions together with the video games and the upcoming Miss Universe pageant. The opening ceremonies of the video games flaunted the nation’s newfound standing, with dances lead by an AI-robot voice and a efficiency by American DJ Marshmello.

For Sel Ramirez, a Salvadoran who has spent many years leaping between his nation and the United States after fleeing civil battle within the ′90s, it was like seeing a wholly new nation. He’s amongst many right here embracing Bukele fervor - he often even clothes up because the president and walks across the metropolis heart.

After Bukele’s opening speech, Ramirez stood outdoors the stadium with a crowd awaiting for the chief’s exit - a scene much like these at Taylor Swift live shows. Yet steps away sit closely armed troopers and black armored automobiles with machine weapons on tops.

“I wonder if he’ll give me his autograph,” mused Ramirez, his eyes glued to the door from which the president would later depart.

As the group waited, Defense Minister René Merino walked out to cheers. “El Salvador is a country in peace,” he advised The Associated Press. “We are open to the world.” When requested by the AP about these imprisoned, he responded “no” and walked away.

Ahead of the video games, Bukele’s authorities slashed 70% of publicly elected positions, whittling down the variety of congressional and native authorities seats. Bukele stated the cuts would enhance effectivity and crack down on corruption, the identical causes given for gutting El Salvador’s courts in 2021.

Legal consultants and different Salvadoran politicians say these are simply the most recent steps in a conquest to solidify energy forward of February’s election.

“This is typical for autocratic governments,” stated René Hernández Valiente, former head of the nation’s constitutional court docket. “They are erasing the philosophies of our constitution.”

The transfer will enhance Bukele’s management of congress by 22%, based on estimates by watchdog group Acción Ciudadana. Other candidates advised AP it left them scrambling by reshuffling the foundations months earlier than the vote.

Bukele’s get together, Nuevas Ideas, made the announcement that he’d search reelection days into the video games, on Twitter. It was an anticipated but controversial transfer. In the tweet, at 1 a.m. native time, the get together declared itself “invincible.”

In the next days, Bukele’s Twitter account – his most popular technique of communication, and a spot the place he as soon as described himself because the world’s “coolest dictator” – posted movies of soccer matches, images of tanned surfers, and clips of his opening speech. He posted little about his reelection marketing campaign.

The rise of social media has made it tougher for leaders to current giant sporting occasions as apolitical, however sportswashing often works as a result of athletic occasions are each extremely seen and seen as a distraction from every day issues and politics, stated Alan McDougall, a sports historian on the University of Guelph in Canada.

“Successfully hosting an international event can give a regime confidence to kind of to act with impunity. Sport is a bit of a shortcut way to win yourself, not even popularity, just an acceptance,” stated McDougall, who dates the usage of athletics as a political software to the Thirties, when a Mussolini-run Italy hosted the World Cup and the Olympics had been held in Nazi Germany.

And whereas many in El Salvador have fun a brand new actuality marked by roaring stadiums and fireworks, these struggling amid Bukele’s crackdown really feel forgotten by the remainder of their nation.

Among them is activist and union chief Ingrid Escobar, 40. When she left dwelling at some point in late June along with her two children to run errands, she noticed males ready outdoors in a grey truck criminologists later recognized as one utilized by authorities safety forces. The sight has grow to be acquainted over the previous three months. So, too, has the worry.

Unions, human rights teams, opposition politicians, researchers and journalists have stated that because the election cycle heats up, Bukele’s authorities has intensified intimidation techniques. One union of presidency staff says no less than 15 organizers have been detained, accused of public dysfunction and gang ties. About half are nonetheless imprisoned, based on the union.

“The fear we have is that we’ll be the next ones he arrests despite never having broken the law,” Escobar stated. “And for no reason other than we are denouncing the government, of being the voice of people who are too scared to speak out.”

Bukele has stated he’ll open a brand new jail “for the corrupt,” a label he usually makes use of for opponents. Escobar worries that will imply her. She stated she’s acquired demise threats on social media. She now makes use of completely different autos, takes completely different routes to work. She fears for her children and tries to defend them.

That morning, she took a photograph of the truck’s license plate and despatched it to a colleague. Her kids requested why, and she or he fibbed: “Oh, because I like the car.”

Miles away, gymnasts flipped earlier than judges, swimmers dove from beginning blocks, and runners leaped hurdles in the identical stadium the place Bukele made his speech.

Few knew concerning the radical modifications the chief was making round them round them or the fears of on a regular basis individuals like Escobar.

“I’ve heard a little bit,” stated Francisco Acuña, a 23-year-old gymnast from Costa Rica. “But I don’t really think about politics.”

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AP journalist Salvador Melendez contributed to this report.

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