Nayib Bukele's digital machinery expands across Latin America: The New Yorker

Nayib Bukele's influence on elections now extends beyond El Salvador's borders, with his videos, tough-on-crime rhetoric, and promise of regaining control shaping political campaigns throughout Latin America. A report published by The New Yorker on August 18, 2026, examines how the content machine built around the Salvadoran president is altering political discourse across the region.

The article, authored by journalist Daniel Castro, uses Colombia's recent presidential election to illustrate how the so-called "Bukele model" is exported not just through laws, prisons, or states of exception, but also via videos, symbols, influencers, and messages designed to transform security into an emotional experience. In Colombia, the election of Abelardo de la Espriella, a criminal lawyer with no prior public office experience, was heavily influenced by this strategy.

De la Espriella, who ran on an aggressive personal brand as "El Tigre" (The Tiger), utilized AI-generated animal imagery and adopted the Colombian national soccer team's yellow jersey as a symbol for his movement. His campaign strategy combined nationalism, political confrontation, and promises of a hard line against crime. De la Espriella publicly expressed admiration for Bukele, suggesting the Salvadoran president would appear moderate compared to the measures he intended to implement.

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The celebrations for Abelardo de la Espriella's election seemed, in some sectors of Medellín, like those of a soccer match. There were horns, vuvuzelas, yellow jerseys, and people banging pots from their balconies.

The New Yorker report posits that this narrative found fertile ground in Colombia due to the deteriorating security situation under the previous government of Gustavo Petro. Petro's "Total Peace" policy, aimed at negotiating simultaneously with various armed groups, failed to reduce their territorial presence. Data cited in the report indicates that homicides reached their highest level in three administrations, and the number of armed group members increased by 90% during Petro's tenure.

Castro's reporting reveals that admiration for Bukele is not confined to right-wing voters. A barber in Medellín, identified as Jhonatan, shared his progressive views on education and health but admitted that a recent experience of being trapped during a guerrilla attack and finding bodies on the streets influenced his support for De la Espriella. For Jhonatan, Bukele's videos represented more than an electoral proposal; they offered the possibility of a government that could restore order and security, an emotional promise that resonated deeply.

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Bukele's videos represented something more powerful than an electoral proposal: the possibility that a government could restore order and security.