“Democracy has died”: the reactions to the controversial reform in El Salvador that will allow indefinite presidential re -election

The Arena Opposition Deputy, Marcela Villatoro, with a poster that says "Today democracy died" During a plenary session of Congress in San Salvador — Photo foot, The opposition deputy of Arena, Marcela Villatoro, with a poster that says “today democracy died” during a plenary session of Congress in San Salvador.

- Author, Writing
- Author's title, BBC News World
1 August 2025

The set of reforms to the Constitution ratified by the Congress of El Salvador this Thursday continues to cause controversy.

The changes include the indefinite presidential re -election in the Central American country, an extension of the presidential term of five to six years and eliminates the second round in the elections.

This will allow President Nayib Bukele, who at 44 exercises his second term, running an unlimited number of times.

The highest court of El Salvador, which is composed of judges backed by Bukele, ruled in 2021 that it was a human right of the leader to run again.

After the approval of the reforms, the Salvadoran President has not ruled about the possibility of looking for a third presidential period.

But a growing number of people and organisms have criticized vote and subsequent ratification.

Deputy Marcela Villatoro (Arena) expressed her rejection with forcefulness.

“Today democracy in El Salvador has died,” he said.

In statements to the press, the deputy said that the reform “was approved without consultation, in a gross and cynical way.”

In addition, he accused the ruling party of concentrating political power in the Executive: “The masks were removed.”

“Abuse of power”

The opposition policy Claudia Ortiz, of the Vamos Party, also criticized the reform as “an abuse of power and a cartoon of democracy.”

Prior to the approval of the project, Juanita Goebertus, director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), said with indefinite presidential re -election El Salvador travels “the same path as Venezuela.”

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, smiles during the inauguration of the Key Institute, a private institution of higher education specialized in engineering and science in San Salvador, on March 19, 2025 — Photo foot, Nayib Bukele re -elected himself as president of El Salvador in February 2024.

“It begins with a leader who uses his popularity to concentrate power, and ends in dictatorship,” he wrote on the social network X.

The defenders of the reforms claim that they give more power to the people.

“Power has returned to the only place to which it truly belongs … to the Salvadoran people,” said the vice president of the Congress, the deputy Sweden Callejas of New Ideas,

A measure that can deteriorate democracy

Indefinite presidential re -election, for experts in the field, can deteriorate democracy as it puts at risk the alternation in power.

Nayib Bukele re -elected himself as president of El Salvador in February 2024 with 82.8% of the votes, despite the fact that the country's constitution expressly prohibited re -election.

To do this, Bukele had the support of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, mostly made up of judges favorable to him, who ordered that the president could be re -elected.

Despite its popularity, Bukele remains a controversial figure.

While his offensive against crime has caused a decrease in homicide rates, human rights groups claim that thousands of people have arrested arbitrarily during his anti -Pandilla campaign.

It is estimated that some 75,000 people have been arrested under the exception measures that have been repeatedly extended.

In a December report, Amnesty International criticized the “gradual replacement for gang violence for state violence.”