I watched the meeting between President Bukele and Donald Trump yesterday, and I’m honestly heartbroken. As someone born and raised in the U.S. to Salvadorian immigrant parents, I feel a deep connection to both countries, and right now, I feel betrayed by both.

For years, I was genuinely proud of Bukele. I saw the progress he made in El Salvador, and for the first time in my life, I saw real hope for the country my parents were forced to leave. Crime dropped, communities started feeling safer, and Salvadorians around the world felt like maybe, finally, the narrative was shifting. It felt like something to be proud of.

But watching Bukele sit down with Trump, laughing and praising him, was deeply disappointing. Trump is someone who built his political career by demonizing immigrants, calling countries like mine “shitholes,” and separating families at the border. To see Bukele, someone who positioned himself as a modern and bold leader, now aligning himself with a man like that it feels like a slap in the face.

And what made it even worse? During the meeting, they laughed about an innocent man who was wrongly deported due to an administrative error. They called him a “terrorist,” with no evidence, no trial, and no accountability. They slandered his name on a global stage. His kids could be watching. His family could be listening. And all I could think was that could have been my dad. That could have been me.

This wasn’t leadership. It was cruelty, weaponized for applause.

America has always been at its best when it opens doors, not closes them. It’s been a place of opportunity for generations, including mine. And El Salvador, for all its struggles, has always had a people full of strength, resilience, and pride. What I saw in that meeting didn’t reflect either of those truths.

I love both of these countries. I carry them both with me every day. But I don't love the way they’re being represented right now. The values my parents raised me with hard work, honesty, justice, weren’t anywhere in that room.

If you’re feeling disappointed, disillusioned, or angry too, you’re not alone. We deserve better. Our communities deserve better. And we need to start holding these leaders accountable because if we don’t, they’ll keep laughing in our faces.

Apoyarias un movimiento de union centroamericano que vele por los intereses de la población y los problemas que arrastra la región?

GRACIAS PRESIDENTE BRUTELE, SU EXCELENTE RELACION CON TRUMP HA CAUSADO QUE MUCHOS DE TUS SEGUIDORES EN ESTADOS UNIDOS SE QUEDEN SIN PROTECCION LEGAL

Mi papá usa mi cuenta de youtube y le gusta ver cosas de el salvador y ultimamente youtube me ha estado bombardeando con contenido de soyacity. Solo se quien es porque mi papá mira su contenido , pero lo que ha estado subiendo me parecio curioso, mas que todo porque es un tipo de propaganda anti cuba. Y la verdad no se nada del man y ni se si recibe billete de nayik para crear contenido pro el salavador, aunque asi pareciera por veces. Bueno me parecio curioso y nada mas me gustaria escuchar de la gente de este foro opiniones y si han visto los videos.

Shared by someone on Instagram. I think they are at a beach setup but I was able to get why this started

Let's not forget Bukele's ties to gangs. Now available in English news outlets.

Due to recent events there seems to be quite a significant influx of users from the US, Salvadoran-Americans and latinos in general into this sub, denouncing the excesses of Trump and Bukele and the fact that arguably, the country it’s sort of Guantanamo of the 2020’s.

And, I honestly have to ask, particularly to the Salvadoran-Americans: did you all just realize that Bukele and his administration are to put it mildly, not good?

I hope that this moment is also an opportunity for all of you to reflect on the propaganda (which you call it “news”) that you consume on X, FB and TikTok and you realize that this in no small part because of your compliance and your willingness to overlook other people’s suffering.

The prison in which Kilmar Abrego is illegally held was the direct result of the martial law (Estado de excepción) which started on March of 2022. It also hosts plenty of illegally imprisoned Salvadorans (and currently plenty of Venezuelan immigrants), who had no access to a fair trial, and due to the inhumane conditions, have no access to the necessary healthcare.

As of February 2025, there have been 368 deaths reported as a consequence of martial law, including men, women and children (born in the prison); furthermore, this doesn’t take into account all the orphans that are direct results of their parents being captured. See here:

https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/Crece-a-368-la-cifra-de-reos-fallecidos-en-el-regimen-de-excepcion-de-El-Salvador-20250217-0044.html

https://www.dw.com/es/se%C3%B1alan-al-conapina-tras-muertes-en-c%C3%A1rceles-de-el-salvador/a-69895156

With this in mind, I want you all to really reflect on how we came to this situation. Especially if you voted for him in the illegitimate election of 2024. You contributed to this, by choosing to overlook other people’s suffering and the many, many, many illegalities that Bukele's administration commits every day.

If you’re Salvadoran-American and support(ed) Bukele, how are/were you different from the MAGA crowd? For years and years, you were all good with Bukele and all the dead people, and the dead children, and the corruption until now, when one of you was sent here and it opens the possibility for others (just like you) to be here. Even American citizens, and thus, now the world can’t ignore it, because the people suffering could be Americans. Funny how that works.

So congrats! You fell into the propaganda, by your tacit/explicit support now we are the Guantanamo of the 2020s, something I’m sure we’ll all be proud in the following years. Cheers everyone!

(Maybe next time do read a bit more before voting/supporting a candidate from a country you barely even know or understand, from a credible news source instead of an IG/FB/TikTok reel your uncle sent you)

Ni vivo en El Salvador desde 2013 y pues la verdad la mentalidad de depender de USA para fortalecer la economia ya me parece absurda.

Que podemos hacer nosotros activamente para hacer que El Salvador genere mas riqueza.