It's important to be clear-eyed about El Salvadoran democracy prior to Bukele. It may have existed on paper, but in practice, most of the population was terrorized by gangs and street-level criminals.
Any political system will come up short when compared to a hypothetical, but El Salvadorans are far freer today than they were 10 years ago. Funes and Ceren weren't exactly champions of liberal democracy either. Like most Marxists they seem to have little concern for the actual conditions in which "the people" lived.
It's important to be clear-eyed about El Salvadoran democracy prior to Bukele. It may have existed on paper, but in practice, most of the population was terrorized by gangs and street-level criminals.
Any political system will come up short when compared to a hypothetical, but El Salvadorans are far freer today than they were 10 years ago. Funes and Ceren weren't exactly champions of liberal democracy either. Like most Marxists they seem to have little concern for the actual conditions in which "the people" lived.