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How Nayib Bukele is breaking presidential term limits in El Salvador

He subverts the system, but remains popular

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.
Photograph: Alamy

AT MIDNIGHT ON November 30th Nayib Bukele stepped back from the presidency of El Salvador to run again in elections in February. The six months between now and June 1st, the date of the inauguration, may be the only period for a long time that he is not at the helm of the Central American country. The constitution bars presidents from serving a second consecutive term. But the 42-year-old has arranged an impressive show to suggest that his bid for re-election is legal. He is the first person to run for re-election since Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, a military dictator, did in 1939. How is Mr Bukele subverting term limits, and will he succeed?

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