25. The World's Coolest Dictator

You may have heard about Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele if you’re very online, because he seems like what happens if a crypto-bro becomes president of a country. He is famous for making Bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador, as well as cultivating an image both domestically and internationally of a millennial, modern president who uses Twitter as well as Elon Musk to create a loyal following.

But his clean-cut image hides the stark reality of El Salvador and the president intending to be its dictator, of its democratic institutions falling to a populist, to overcrowded prisons and gang-controlled areas. The pandemic is just part of the story, but it allowed Bukele to truly solidify his reputation and his tactics of turning into The World's Coolest Dictator.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ebLiOlmFux-870OUarK6b5TCLegW0lMZasQYDn7mmcw/edit?usp=sharing