That is to guarantee they do not use their power to stay in power,” he stated in 2013, when he governed the modest municipality of Nuevo Cuscatlán. A patient, calculated route toward the absolute concentration of power in a single man: himself. Nayib Bukele during El Salvador's presidential elections, February 4, 2024, in San Salvador. Nayib Bukele and his wife Gabriela Bukele at the National Theatre in the Historic Center of San Salvador, June 1, 2025. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition