Nayib Bukele

Presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella addresses supporters from inside a bulletproof booth aboard a barge on the Magdalena River after leading the first round of the presidential election and advancing to a runoff in Barranquilla, Colombia, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

Takeaways from AP’s report on Latin America’s hard shift to the right

Right-wing populists have been making headway in some of Latin America’s biggest economies, promising a strong-arm approach to combatting crime and illegal immigration as an answer to the left-wing populism that took hold in the region just a few years ago.

President Donald Trump poses for a group photo with, from left, Paraguay President Santiago Peña, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader, Bolivia President Rodrigo Paz Pereira, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, and Argentina President Javier Milei, at the Shield of the Americas Summit at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla., March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

As crime surges in some Latin American countries, a far-right backlash is brewing

El candidato presidencial Abelardo de la Espriella, del movimiento Defensores de la Patria, se dirige a sus seguidores desde el interior de una cabina a prueba de balas tras liderar la primera vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales y avanzar a la segunda vuelta en Barranquilla, Colombia, el domingo 31 de mayo de 2026. (AP Foto/Fernando Vergara)

Pro-Trump candidate takes spotlight in Colombia’s presidential race with vow of crime crackdown

President of El Salvador, Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

US deportations to El Salvador double as Bukele aligns himself with Trump agenda

President of El Salvador, Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Salvadoran news outlet El Faro says its assets frozen in retaliation for reporting on Bukele

A right-wing backlash surges in Latin America as crime fears fuel Bukele-style crackdowns

At the start of this decade, Latin America leaned left as progressive politicians gained power amid public outrage over inequities worsened by the pandemic. Now, a political backlash is brewing. Rising crime and extortion have fueled support for conservative populists using strong-arm tactics against crime and immigration.

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Drone attacks raise fears for voters as Colombians vote to elect a new president

Chile’s far-right president-elect visits El Salvador mega-prison

Costa Rica president tours El Salvador mega-prison amid security talks with Bukele

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Lorena Zepeda, an immigrant from El Salvador who works for the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), poses for photos, in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Haitians, Syrians aren’t the only immigrants watching US Supreme Court arguments on temporary status

The Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) stands in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)

Nearly 500 alleged MS-13 members are on a mass trial in El Salvador

El presidente de El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, habla durante una conferencia de prensa con el presidente electo de Chile, José Antonio Kast, en el palacio presidencial, el viernes 30 de enero de 2026, en San Salvador, El Salvador. (AP Foto/Salvador Meléndez)

El Salvador’s Bukele signs reforms allowing life prison sentences for people as young as 12

Prisoners sit in their cell at the mega prison known as Detention Center Against Terrorism (CECOT) in Tecololuca, El Salvador, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, file)

El Salvador’s Bukele pushes through life sentences in nation that has imprisoned 1% of population

Prisoners sit in their cell at the mega prison known as Detention Center Against Terrorism (CECOT) in Tecololuca, El Salvador, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, file)

El Salvador has arbitrarily detained nationals deported from the US, Human Rights Watch says

Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast and his wife Maria Pia Adriasola wave to supporters from the balcony of La Moneda presidential palace after his inauguration in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Kast takes office as Chile marks its sharpest shift to the right since dictatorship

A soldier stands by fans of Colombian pop star Shakira before her concert at the National Stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

Shakira’s 5-show El Salvador residency fuels Bukele’s push to remake the country’s image

Chile's President-elect Jose Antonio Kast, center, is given a tour of the mega prison known as Detention Center Against Terrorism (CECOT) in Tecololuca, El Salvador, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

Chile’s far-right president-elect visits El Salvador mega-prison, plans to talk security with Bukele

Soldiers receive instructions on a soccer field before patrolling the city during the country's state of emergency, following an escalation of gang-related violence, on the outskirts of Guatemala City, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Police begin to flex new powers in Guatemala in effort to confront gangs

Soldiers stand guard in front of a poster of former President Jacobo Arbenz who was overthrown in a 1954 coup, near Congress in Guatemala City, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, after President Bernardo Arévalo declared a state of emergency. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Trump threats and Bukele model on crime back Latin American progressives into corner

Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves speaks during a news conference regarding the seizure of four tons of drugs, at an air base in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz, File)

Activist in Costa Rica denies plotting to assassinate the president

Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves speaks during a news conference regarding the seizure of four tons of drugs, at an air base in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz, File)

Costa Rica’s security director says plot to assassinate president uncovered

El Salvador teams up with Elon Musk’s xAI to bring AI to 5,000 public schools

The mega-prison known as Detention Center Against Terrorism (CECOT) stands in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)

Human rights commission calls on El Salvador to protect 3 deported men it imprisoned

Presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast of the Republican Party, and his wife Maria Pia Adriasola, wave to supporters after early results in the general elections in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Chile’s most polarized presidential race in decades boosts the right and divides immigrants

Rafaela Perez hold blind cat Zeus, who she cares for at the Hogar Buena Fortuna pet shelter which she operates out of her home in Mejicanos, El Salvador, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

El Salvador’s president seeks help in caring for country’s thousands of stray dogs and cats

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, left, waves next to first lady Gabriela Bukele after delivering his annual address to Congress at the National Theater in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)

Journalism association to leave El Salvador over government pressure

A leader of the Barrio 18 gang stands handcuffed facing a wall after his arrest in San Salvador, El Salvador, July 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)

Trump administration designates Barrio 18 gang as foreign terrorist organization

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks with reporters about his visit in Mexico City, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

Ted Cruz urges Mexico to follow El Salvador’s harsh crackdown on cartels

A youth gets his hair cut at a barbershop to adhere to public school rules for hair in San Salvador, El Salvador, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

El Salvador is enforcing strict student dress codes to bring discipline back to schools

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele gives a press conference in San Salvador, El Salvador, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)

El Salvador extends pretrial detention for 80,000 gang suspects 2 more years

President Donald Trump receives El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele at the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Trump administration: El Salvador’s Bukele not a dictator

Nayib Bukele, presidential candidate for the Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional, GANA, left, holds a campaign rally with his wife Gabriela Rodriguez in San Salvador, El Salvador, Jan. 26, 2019, ahead of the Feb. 3 vote. (AP Photo Salvador Melendez, File)

El Salvador opens path for its president to stay in power indefinitely. Why critics aren’t surprised

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele gives a press conference in San Salvador, El Salvador, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)

El Salvador approves indefinite presidential reelection and extends terms to 6 years

Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang attend a preliminary hearing facing homicide charges, in Santiago, Chile, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A small team of investigators confronts the transnational gang terrorizing Chile

In this photo released by the El Salvador's Presidential Press Office, President Nayib Bukele greets a U.S. citizen who was released by the Venezuelan government, in San Salvador, El Salvador, Friday, July 18, 2025. (El Salvador's Presidential Press Office office via AP)

Labor rights group asks El Salvador’s supreme court to strike down contentious ‘foreign agents’ law

El Salvador journalist Monica Rodriguez, left, and her husband Steve Magaña, an activist, both of whom left the country fearing political persecution, give an interview on Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

El Salvador’s new wave of political exiles say history is repeating itself

Carlos Uzcategui, one of the Venezuelan migrants deported months ago to El Salvador by the United States under an immigration crackdown, is welcomed home by his wife, Gabriela Mora, in Lobatera, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela’s returning migrants allege abuses in El Salvador’s ‘hell’ prison where US sent them

Migrants deported months ago by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela investigating alleged mistreatment of migrants Trump sent to El Salvador

Migrants deported months ago by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela releases jailed Americans in deal that frees migrants deported to El Salvador by US

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