President affirms that human rights groups and global powers profited from national violence, and now fear the country’s peaceful transformation may inspire others.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has once again drawn international attention after publicly denouncing what he described as the discomfort of human rights NGOs, globalist media outlets, and powerful elites—including George Soros—over the country’s newfound peace and security.
In recent remarks, the Salvadoran president asserted that “it is possible to live in peace and defeat terrorism,” highlighting his government’s ongoing crackdown on gang violence and criminal networks. Bukele, whose security policies have significantly reduced crime rates in the country, suggested that peace in El Salvador has disrupted the financial and ideological interests of organizations that once thrived on the country’s instability.
“Their problem with El Salvador is not only that it caused them to lose their business here, but that it is becoming an example for other countries: that terrorism can be defeated, that it is possible to live in peace,” Bukele stated. He emphasized that the reduction of violence undermines the operations of human rights NGOs and international media groups that, in his view, had grown accustomed to profiting from the suffering of Salvadorans.
The president’s comments come amid growing international debate over security strategies in Latin America, with El Salvador increasingly viewed as a model by other nations grappling with organized crime and unrest.
Bukele’s government maintains that its security reforms, though controversial abroad, are overwhelmingly supported by Salvadoran citizens who have seen tangible improvements in daily life. With homicides at record lows, many see El Salvador’s transformation as a sign that entrenched violence can be reversed—if political will is strong.
This declaration adds to a broader narrative positioning El Salvador as a rising example of successful, sovereign-led security reform in Latin America.