A GUIDE TO
A Guide to 2019 Latin American Elections: El Salvador
On February 3, voters elected Nayib Bukele to the presidency in the first round, breaking a a 30-year streak of two-party control of the presidency. The former San Salvador mayor received 53 percent of the vote as the candidate of the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), a coalition that broke off from the conservative National Republican Alliance, though Bukele was a member of the governing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front until 2017.
The 37-year-old won by a landslide, beating his top opponent by more than 20 points and by winning over voters who saw him as a different option from politics as usual. But even if he got more votes than the two traditional parties combined, he will have to work with the opposition in the legislature, where GANA holds a small number of seats.
Presidents in El Salvador serve for five years and can run for nonconsecutive reelection. Bukele took office June 1.
>> Find out about other elections in our main 2019 Election Guide.
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