El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, says the dramatic transformation of his country is inseparable from prayer and spiritual warfare. In an interview with U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson, Bukele described how he believes God intervened as his government confronted the nation’s notorious street gangs.
Gang crisis framed as a spiritual battle
Bukele said the MS-13 gang evolved from a criminal youth group into what former members described as a “satanic organisation.” According to their testimonies, authorities discovered altars and evidence that a baby had been killed as a ritual sacrifice. “They said, ‘The Beast asked for a baby — so we had to give it,’” Bukele recalled.
He said the situation forced the government into a conflict fought on two levels: “There’s a spiritual war and there’s a physical war … Our impressive victory was because we won the spiritual war.”
Violence drops under Bukele’s security measures
When Bukele took office in 2019, he launched the “Territorial Control Plan” aimed at dismantling gang control and curbing homicides. The plan gained urgency after a three-day wave of killings left 87 dead — the equivalent, he noted, of 5,000 murders in three days in the United States.
His government then introduced a state of exception that allowed extended detention without charge and restricted several civil liberties. Independent observers reported a nearly 60 percent decline in murders by the end of 2022. Around 80,000 suspected gang members have been detained under the crackdown.
Bukele calls the turnaround nothing short of supernatural: “I can tell you … the real formula … was prayer.”
Political dynamics and re-election
Bukele also spoke about political opposition and media strategies, using former U.S. President Donald Trump as an example. “If there’s no way to stop him from competing … everything they do against him will only give him more votes,” he argued.
His comments came after his own landslide re-election in 2024, in which he won roughly 85 percent of the vote following a Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for a second term.
A nation shaped by faith and strategy
Bukele insists that El Salvador’s security gains are the product of both disciplined policy and spiritual resistance. He points to the dramatic drop in violence as evidence that God has acted on behalf of the nation — and hopes the country will continue on a path of stability, safety, and faith-driven leadership.
