Bukele, 42, a tough-on-crime politician who took El Salvador from being the world's most dangerous country in Latin America to the safest, declared that his nation had been healed through the power of God and His ability to unite the nation.
The president disregarded the possibility that his remarks about God would be the subject of hit pieces in the media and instead urged the people of El Salvador to seek him out.
"They have seen us work this miracle," said Bukele standing alongside his wife. "We must give all glory to God."
"Because what are we if not His instruments? We are all the tools of God," he declared. "God chose to heal our country and He did it by uniting the people who decided to leave the past behind and take the reins of their own destiny."
"I can already see the headlines, 'Bukele mentions God and the country must be secular.' They even want to force us to be atheists now. We respect all religions, we respect atheists and agnostics," explained Bukele. "We are their friends, but let us believe in God."
"And let us give Him the glory if that's what we want to do. What's the harm in that? How does that hurt you? Oh, maybe the problem is that it sets an example because maybe the people in your countries, whom you have tried to indoctrinate into atheism, will once again believe in God," said Bukele in his victory speech.
Before Bukele was elected president in 2019, the South American country had the highest murder rate in the world. By July 2023, President Bukele was able to declare El Salvador the "safest country in Latin America."
He used this success as a campaign strategy which launched him to yet another victory on Sunday evening.
The polling stations were flooded with the president's cyan blue and white campaign colors, while support for Bukele's opponents was essentially non-existent. His popularity in El Salvador is widespread in both impoverished and wealthy neighborhoods.
Since taking office, according to the Wall Street Journal, a strategy Bukele implemented in 2022 of arresting suspected gang members en masse has brought the homicide rate down by 92 percent since 2015. It has put about 68,000 people from the country in prison, more than one percent of the population.
Nine out of every 10 Salvadorans say they support Bukele, and the number of illegal immigrants from the country crossing the US-Mexico border has dropped 44 percent, per the Wall Street Journal.
Reports show that the homicide rate in 2023 is now 2.3 per every 100,000 residents in the country—lower than anywhere else in Latin America.
The Wall Street Journal reported that other leaders in Latin America have wanted to copy Bukele's tactics. "It’s simple, just copy him. Do what Bukele’s doing," said Cynthia Viteri. Viteri served as the mayor of the violet Ecuadorean city, Guayaquil, until May.
Parents in impoverished neighborhoods have said that their children can go play outside without having to ask for permission like they used to.
"I would vote for Bukele 10 more times,” Edwin Avalos, a restaurant owner, said. “Two years ago, I wouldn’t have opened a business here." Prior to the policies from Bukele, he had to pay $6,000 every year because of gang-led extortion.
