Bukele dismisses the notion that France is a lost cause. He draws a comparison with El Salvador, where problems a hundred times worse were solved in a year, and writes that France could manage it in a week. ”It’s a matter of political will.”.
The President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele has turned his attention to France following this weekend's riots, during which stores were looted, vehicles were set on fire, and neighborhoods were destroyed. He dismisses the notion that the country is lost and writes that the problems can be resolved quickly.
– I’ve heard people say that France is lost, that it’s too late to save the country. But France is still just as beautiful—even enviable. Its greatness hasn’t disappeared; it’s just waiting to be reborn., he writes on X.
France's problems can be solved in a week
Bukele draws a comparison with his own country. According to him, El Salvador had a problem that was a hundred times more serious and had significantly fewer resources. It was resolved in one year.
– In just one year, we overcame a problem that was a hundred times more serious, without having access to the resources that France has at its disposal. France could handle it in a week.
Under Bukele’s administration, tens of thousands of suspected gang members have been arrested and new maximum-security prisons have been built. Violent crime has fallen sharply, and residents can once again move about in areas that were previously controlled by gangs. Critics point to arbitrary arrests and a lack of due process. Bukele himself emphasizes that political will was required.
In France, approximately 1,500 businesses have been vandalized, and about 1,800 people have been arrested in connection with the unrest in cities including Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice, and Strasbourg.
Bukele believes that France has the resources. What is lacking, he says, is the political will to use them.
The first picture isn't of Nayib Bukele—what's up with your research?
I completely agree with Bukele; one week would be enough.
And the same thing could be done in Sweden in a month if there were the political will to do so.
But unfortunately, that's how it is in most countries—all talk and no action?