Democracy is quickly eroding in Central America

ENRIQUE, A LAWYER (not his real name), worked for the authorities in El Salvador for over a decade, going from advising a local council to being employed in the transport ministry. Despite his misgivings about graft in politics, he worked with the two parties that have dominated the country since the end of the civil war in 1992. But shortly after Nayib Bukele, the president, came to power in 2019, he went back to private practice. “This government is worse—it attacks anyone who doesn’t take its position and abuses of power go unchecked,” he says. “There is no rule of law.”