El Salvador's President Nayib Armando Bukele, self-proclaimed "coolest dictator", has had a busy 2025. Among his draconian rulings are escalated attacks on the press, which has forced dozens of journalists into exile. This includes the majority of the news outlet El Faro’s journalists, who had to leave the country after the newspaper published an investigation into secret negotiations between high-ranking officials and leaders of criminal organisations.
Journalists aren’t the only ones in the firing line. In June, Ruth López, head of the Anti-Corruption Unit at the human rights organisation Cristosal, was arrested on charges of embezzlement, then of illicit enrichment. She was likely targeted for exposing government corruption. A few days later, the Legislative Assembly passed a Foreign Agents law, granting the government sweeping powers to sanction and shut down NGOs.
Then came mass incarcerations. El Salvador has the highest prisoner rate worldwide and those incarcerated inside the country’s notorious mega prisons endure torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. This includes the 252 Venezuelans expelled to El Salvador by the USA who were subjected to “systematic and prolonged torture and abuse, including sexual assault.” Many in the jails have been convicted of no crime at all, fuelling suspicions that imprisonment is being used to crush dissent.
So, is Buekele “cool”? Absolutely not. But is he a frontrunner for 2025’s Tyrant of the Year? We think so.
To cast your vote, click on your chosen tyrant's face below and then click on the Vote button. And if you want the winner delivered straight to you in early January, sign up to our newsletter – you’ll then be the first to know who claims the crown no one wants.
The closing date is Monday 5 January 2026.
To view the other contenders for Tyrant of the Year, click here.
