Chapter 105: Customers

394      dropped out of college Vera Bergengruen, “How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador,” Time, August 29, 2024, time.com/7015598/nayib-bukeles-iron-fist-el-salvador/.   

394      led . . . Obermet Sarah Kinosian, “Trolls, Propaganda and Fear Stoke Bukele’s Media Machine in El Salvador,” Reuters, November 29, 2022, www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/el-salvador-politics-media/; and Gabriel Labrador, “How Bukele Crafted a Best-Selling Political Brand,” El Faro, May 3, 2022, elfaro.net/en/202205/el_salvador/26155/How-Bukele-Crafted-a-Best-Selling-Political-Brand.htm.

394      presided over Obermet and other companies Bergengruen, “How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador,” time.com/7015598/nayib-bukeles-iron-fist-el-salvador/. 

394      got his political start running advertising for. . . Kinosian, “Trolls, Propaganda and Fear Stoke Bukele’s Media Machine in El Salvador,” www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/el-salvador-politics-media/.

394      battled Salvadoran elites . . . during the Salvadoran Civil War Carlos S. Maldonado, “The Collapse of the FMLN, the Former Salvadoran Guerrilla Movement Nayib Bukele Wants to Eliminate,” El País English, March 11, 2024, english.elpais.com/international/2024-03-11/the-collapse-of-the-fmln-the-former-salvadoran-guerrilla-movement-nayib-bukele-wants-to-eliminate.html. 

394      transformed into a political party Maldonado, “The Collapse of the FMLN, the Former Salvadoran Guerrilla Movement Nayib Bukele Wants to Eliminate,” english.elpais.com/international/2024-03-11/the-collapse-of-the-fmln-the-former-salvadoran-guerrilla-movement-nayib-bukele-wants-to-eliminate.html. 

394      father joined the party . . . joined too . . . eye on political office Bergengruen, “How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador,” time.com/7015598/nayib-bukeles-iron-fist-el-salvador/. ; and Labrador, “How Bukele Crafted a Best-Selling Political Brand,” elfaro.net/en/202205/el_salvador/26155/How-Bukele-Crafted-a-Best-Selling-Political-Brand.htm.

394      elected Bukele their mayor in 2012 Bergengruen, “How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador,” time.com/7015598/nayib-bukeles-iron-fist-el-salvador/. 

394      used that office . . . for mayor of San Salvador Bergengruen, “How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador,” time.com/7015598/nayib-bukeles-iron-fist-el-salvador/; and Labrador, “How Bukele Crafted a Best-Selling Political Brand,” elfaro.net/en/202205/el_salvador/26155/How-Bukele-Crafted-a-Best-Selling-Political-Brand.htm.

394      the FMLN’s “crown jewel” Quoted in Laura Bernal, “Nayib Bukele, the Most Popular Capitalist on the Salvadoran Left,”Contra Punto, February 27, 2015, accessed via Wayback Machine, March 18, 2015 capture, web.archive.org/web/20150318042620/http://www.contrapunto.com.sv/nacionales/politica/nayib-bukele-el-capitalista-mas-popular-de-la-izquierda-salvadorena, via Google Translate; and Nayib Bukele, “Now, the Crown Jewel will belong to the people . . .” Facebook, March 20, 2015, www.facebook.com/nayibbukele/posts/ahora-la-joya-de-la-corona-ser%C3%A1-del-pueblo/783461325073394/, via Google Translate, archived at archive.today, February 10, 2026 capture, archive.ph/jsIGX.

394      Bukele won Bernal, “Nayib Bukele, the Most Popular Capitalist on the Salvadoran Left,” web.archive.org/web/20150318042620/http://www.contrapunto.com.sv/nacionales/politica/nayib-bukele-el-capitalista-mas-popular-de-la-izquierda-salvadorena; and Bergengruen, “How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador,” time.com/7015598/nayib-bukeles-iron-fist-el-salvador/. 

394      reached 103 murders per 100,000 people Kevin Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” Washington Post, April 1, 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

394      the highest rate in the Americas, twenty times the U.S. rate Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

394      carried out many of the murders José Miguel Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, (Miami: Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center and Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, Florida International University, 2017), lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 14.

394      founded Barrio 18 in the 1960s Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador,lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 13.

394      created MS-13 in Los Angeles in the early 1980s Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 13.

394–395  After . . . began deporting members of these gangs . . . Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 13.

395       unsubstantiated charge . . . sending gang members to the United States NBC Chicago, “Donald Trump’s Full Speech at 2024 RNC,” YouTube, July 19, 2024, youtu.be/dLUK_MEJP_M?si=nAYKJgITEQ3w8DIp, 1:05:39–1:05:57.

395       contributed to the growth of the most powerful gangs . . . Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 13.

395       leveraged the conditions . . . to recruit more members Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 13–14, 19, 20.

395       attempted to crush . . . through mano dura (iron-fist) policies Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 14.

395       up “thousands of youth based on their appearance . . .” Steven Dudley, “How ‘Mano Dura’ is Strengthening Gangs,” 2010, quoted in Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 14.

395       “Most of these arrests did not hold up . . .” Dudley, “How ‘Mano Dura’ is Strengthening Gangs,” quoted in Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 14.

395       sent thousands . . . heavily recruited new members “The government of Francisco Flores implemented the Plan Mano Dura policy in 2003, which enabled police officers to arrest suspected gang members based on their physical appearances as many gang members pledge allegiance and loyalty to the organization by having tattoos—often on their faces, hands, and other extremities. This strategy resulted in the prison population increasing from 4,000 to 8,000 in the first four months after the implementation of this policy.” The authors add, “Overcrowded jails and prisons function as recruiting grounds for gang members.” Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 14, 66.

395       fled El Salvador between 2012 and 2016 Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

395       joined other . . . fleeing the Northern Triangle Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

395       introduced an aid package Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

395       created jobs . . . assisted returning immigrants Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

395       immigration from Guatemala and Honduras . . . Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

395       aging . . . moving out of the demographic window . . . fifteen and twenty-nine Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

395       most likely to join a gang or immigrate to another country A survey of members of youth gangs in El Salvador found “interviewees’ ages ranged from 13 to 56, but the majority (75%) were 30 years old or younger at the time of this study . . . Most gang members joined the gang during adolescence. The average age of joining a gang is 15 years old and has remained the same over the past decade.” Cruz et al., The New Face of Street Gangs: The Gang Phenomenon in El Salvador, lacc.fiu.edu/research/the-street-gangs-in-central-america-research-initiative-scrain/the-new-face-of-street-gangs-the-gang-phenomenon-in-el-salvador-eng.pdf, 17. On immigration age, see Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

395–396  younger than El Salvador’s Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

396      “youth bulge” Justin Yifu Lin, “Youth Bulge: A Demographic Dividend or a Demographic Bomb in Developing Countries?” World Bank Blogs, January 5, 2012, https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/developmenttalk/youth-bulge-a-demographic-dividend-or-a-demographic-bomb-in-developing-countries. 

396      the rise in immigration from Guatemala and Honduras Sieff, “U.S. Officials Said Aid to El Salvador Helped Slow Migration: Now Trump Is Canceling It,” www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-officials-said-aid-to-el-salvador-helped-slow-migration-now-trump-is-canceling-it/2019/04/01/5a8ca570-540a-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html.

396      ended the aid David C. Adams, “Trump Cuts Off Aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador,” Univision News, March 29, 2019, www.univision.com/univision-news/latin-america/trump-cuts-off-aid-to-honduras-guatemala-and-el-salvador. There is no evidence that Trump ended this aid to intentionally increase the number of immigrants but that it would have benefited him politically.

396      did all he could Lauren Markham, “Can a Millennial Mayor Save One of the World’s Most Violent Cities?” The Guardian, October 18, 2016, www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/18/nayib-bukele-san-salvador-mayor-save-worlds-most-violent-city.

396      installing lights on every street corner, increasing police patrols Markham, “Can a Millennial Mayor Save One of the World’s Most Violent Cities?” www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/18/nayib-bukele-san-salvador-mayor-save-worlds-most-violent-city.

396      creating more youth scholarships, and revitalizing San Salvador’s downtown business district Bergengruen, “How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador,” time.com/7015598/nayib-bukeles-iron-fist-el-salvador/. 

396      created his own media empire Bergengruen, “How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador,” time.com/7015598/nayib-bukeles-iron-fist-el-salvador/.