Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele came to power in 2019 on promises to eliminate corruption: nobody would steal from his government, and past thieves would have to refund the public coffers. He even pledged to axe the “partida secreta”, the secret presidential discretional budget for which all former Salvadoran presidents in the last 25 years have been investigated.
But not only did he keep the partida secreta; in his first term in power, he created four more slush funds shielded from public scrutiny.
In cases ranging from special Covid-19 budgets to loans from public banks, municipal works, and funds to implement Bitcoin in El Salvador, journalists uncovered irregularities involving dozens of Bukele officials and more than $3 billion spent without explanation. On the heels of high-stakes corruption probes, Bukele consolidated power across public institutions and imposed strict secrecy on almost all public information.
This video, subtitled in English, shows just a glimpse of the many corruption cases documented by the Salvadoran press and civil society over the last five years, challenging a myth that Bukele put at the center of his national and international image: that his government is “clean” of the stain of corruption.
*To activate the English subtitles, select the gear button on the YouTube viewer interface and choose “English (United States)” from the closed caption menu.