It’s a shameful time to be Salvadoran-American

On being Guantanamo 2.0 and our descent into madness/fascism

Growing up there used to be saying that Costa Rica, due its lack of military, and thus lack of war and dictatorships, is the Switzerland of Central America. If that’s the case El Salvador is Nazi Germany. Oversimplifications of the region? Oh, for sure. But it seems about every generation since our grandparents/great grandparents goes through mass death, ethnic cleansing, political violence and uprising against fascist leader. La Matanza 1932, 1980s civil war and now — we’re in some deep shit with Bukele, whether you and your Salvi loved ones realize it or not.

The kidnapping of over 200 Venezuelans and Kilmar Abrego Garcia, has galvanized the world. Presidents Bukele and Trump met and refused to return anyone sent to El Salvador’s prison camps. You cannot turn on politics on the internet right now without seeing El Salvador memes. The homeland is deservedly the “gulag”/Guantamo/prison country where political dissidents get sent to in the butt of jokes. And while it may seem like public opinion turned overnight on the maverick millennial president Nayib Bukele, the authoritarian dictator has always been clear about who he is — and what he wants.

According to Salvadoran NGO, Cristosal, nearly 400 deaths have been reported in El Salvador’s prison camps but the true death toll is probably closer to 1,000. This has been going on since the “temporary” State of Exception in 2022. I and others who have been vocal about this since day one, have dealt with targeted troll harassment campaigns, being branded an enemy by everyday Salvadorans and just dealt with a bunch of silence and contempt from people with platform who don’t want to alienate their audience by criticizing Bukele. *Wink wink* the salvi liberal pupusa politics influencer class* *wink wink the poets who visited the Bukele regime with the US State department.*

If you’re just waking up to the reality of Bukele’s El Salvador, welcome. There’s a lot of work to do. I’m sincerely sorry that the propaganda has won out and our salvi community has failed you and the world has failed us. For those of us who’ve been aware, the consolation is that we’re not so alone anymore, and the potential to build something better can start today. As a starting point, get better informed signing up for CISPES’s newsletter, Cristosal’s newsletter and El Faro’s newsletter.

Stay tuned for the next substack where I’ll explore the longstanding ties between El Salvador and Venezuela, and what it means for this moment.

Also, listen to an award-winning podcast I hosted, HUMO: Murder and Silence in El Salvador. It chronicles the rise of the Bukele administration.

Salú or whatever