I think the author is a tad naive on the worst-case scenarios. Bukele sounds a bit sociopathic: for now he seems good, but it doesn't seem he has the most princ

I think the author is a tad naive on the worst-case scenarios. Bukele sounds a bit sociopathic: for now he seems good, but it doesn't seem he has the most principled world-view. With the god-level worship from his people and crazy high levels of support, I would worry about him turning into a lifetime dictator. You have to remember that Hitler was democratically elected for seemingly bringing back the glory of his country. Re weapons making people feel safer: this is something I heard from Israelis (~2017) that for them seeing soldiers with big assault rifles makes them feel safer; for me it normally does not. I wonder what the conditions are under which this makes people feel good/bad. Re innocent people ending up in jail and abused: I wonder how the number of people whose lives are now destroyed by the state is vs how many peoples' lives were destroyed (e.g. murders) pre-crackdowns?