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It would be great if this was that simple (and in general I agree with you), but Bukele taking over El Salvador was an exception: the whole judicial system was
by xiphias2 3y ago
It would be great if this was that simple (and in general I agree with you), but Bukele taking over El Salvador was an exception: the whole judicial system was captured by criminals that enabled killing people on a mass scale, he got rid of it all, and crime rate went down significantly.
He also changed the (otherwise unfair) constitution that prohibited him from going for reelection, although at that point I believe a referendum would have been a much better solution.
I'm seeing the same taking over court happening in other countries, so I just don't think there's a simple solution that can be applied in all cases.
- SiempreViernes 3y agoI guess this rosy view depends on viewing constant martial law as a positive thing, and not counting the tens of thousands of arbitrary arrests as a downside.
- earthnail 3y agoBukele is not an exception. He's not replacing a functioning democracy. As you describe, the old system had no true separation of power - criminals had already captured it and made it dysfunctional. As everything in live, just because it says X on the label doesn't mean it has X in it. Same with democracy. To have a functioning democracy, you not only need to have separation of power, you also always have to make sure it is maintained, and a society has to constantly re-educate itself on why that is so important. When we take things for granted, they are up for grabs from people who just want power.
- tormeh 3y agoIt's a rule of thumb. Most authoritarians are not Lee Kuan Yew. Most times it does not go well.