--- description: Find out why Nayib Bukele is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. title: Nayib Bukele: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99a97fd32c59b4f0/698a1cb58fd2ee6842362e32/nayib-bukele-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 15, 2021 # Nayib Bukele by Daniel Lizárraga  Nayib Bukele Camilo Freedman—Zuma Press/Alamy Nayib Bukele Camilo Freedman—Zuma Press/AlamyCamilo Freedman—Zuma Press/Alamy On Aug. 23, _El Faro,_ the Salvadoran newspaper where I am an editor, published an investigation into negotiations between President Nayib Bukele’s government and [El Salvador’s gangs](https://time.com/5936075/el-salvador-gangs-unforgivable-documentary/ "undefined"). The President dismissed the report in a tweet and later baselessly accused _El Faro_ of lying. This is the talent of a President who has brooked no criticism or opposition. In 2020, Bukele came to parliament surrounded by armed soldiers in order to pressure lawmakers to approve his budget. This May, he ordered the removal of the Supreme Court’s judges—and now, the new appointees have ruled that Presidents can serve two consecutive terms. The government’s assault on _El Faro_—which also includes my expulsion from the country in July—aims to punish the paper for the sin of trying to deliver the best information to people. To Bukele, the government’s words are unquestionable, and anyone who says otherwise is first burned on social media and later, if they continue down their path, dealt with by the authorities. _Lizárraga is a journalist_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096024/nayib-bukele/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096024/nayib-bukele/"},"headline":"Nayib Bukele","datePublished":"2021-09-15T11:15:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:14.405Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096024/nayib-bukele/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021","T100 2021 Leaders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99a97fd32c59b4f0/698a1cb58fd2ee6842362e32/nayib-bukele-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99a97fd32c59b4f0/698a1cb58fd2ee6842362e32/nayib-bukele-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096024/nayib-bukele/","name":"Nayib Bukele"}}]}] ```