There is much to admire about Nayib Bukele and Western nationalists should forge alliances where possible with those who are enacting reforms we dream of carrying out here. There is an infectious element to nationalism. Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Ecuador are all looking to emulate the Bukelean model in one form or another while Republican politicians here at home have taken notice of his model for stamping out violent crime.
But, Bukele is not the only political force vying for the attention of Latin America.
This publication has also tackled the rise of Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum. Specifically, the threat her brand of anti-American Latino progressivism poses to the already unstable American nation. An assessment that I wholeheartedly agree with.
In keeping with the prediction that Claudia Sheinbaum would attack the US from various ‘progressive angles’ it took less than a month into her term for Sheinbaum to attack the United States for alleged human rights violates against narcos and cartel members. Sheinbaum’s plan to tackle cartels domestically is no better, with the AP reporting that she will be continuing the popularly dubbed “hugs not bullets” plans of her predecessor AMLO. This plan involves giving resources and ‘attention’ (whatever that means) to poor families in Mexico, spending more money on youth activities, and attempting to use economic growth to make cartel life less appealing.
Never mind that Mexico is experiencing its worst spate of homicides and violent crime in its history, a spate that began under AMLO and has not been softened since. Sheinbaum’s policies are going to do no better and violence will continue to not only kill Mexicans but spill further into the United States and continuing killing Americans.
It’s Not Income, Claudia …
While the ultra-progressive Sheinbaum blames low wages for violent crime and cartel killings, Bukele blamed actual criminals.
Instead of taking the liberal approach of trying to resolve issues not even tangentially related to deciding to behead people, Bukele took the novel approach of rounding up anyone even suspected of gang activity and hurling them into maximum security prisons.
El Salvador is also a poor country, in fact the average monthly salary in El Salvador is $300 lower than in Mexico. Yet, El Salvador locked up the gang members and the killings stopped.
This is where the policy approaches of liberalism and nationalism come into conflict, and liberalism loses out miserably. Nationalism does not attempt to beat around the bush and take 5 different unrelated paths hoping to eventually affect some change. Instead the Bukele model (which is a nationalist model of governing) tackled the issue of crime head on, and only that issue. Before you can help poor families with higher wages or better schools you must first ensure they won’t be killed for going to the market, and Bukele has ensured that.
The More Democratic Nationalism
Bukele’s administration is also far more democratic than the progressive changes which Sheinbaum and AMLO have been visiting upon Mexico. Opinion polling in Mexico very clearly shows a majority, roughly 55% opposition to the legalization of abortion in that country, and yet numerous states have legalized the practice.
