By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 5 February 2024
Nayib Bukele was re-elected President of El Salvador in February 2024. Bukele said that, according to his own count, he had won more than 85% of the vote and at least 58 of the 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The article presents the result as an endorsement of his policies, including making bitcoin legal tender in 2021 despite scepticism from the International Monetary Fund.
His government had introduced the Chivo wallet and bitcoin ATMs, set out plans for a bitcoin city powered by geothermal energy, and launched a Freedom Visa programme with Tether that offered citizenship in exchange for investment in USDT or bitcoin. The article notes critics’ concerns about bitcoin’s volatility, and says a significant fall in gang violence under Bukele’s security strategy had boosted his popularity.