
On June 13, 2024, during a congressional session, US Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar of South Florida highlighted the remarkable security achievements of El Salvador under President Nayib Bukele.
The Republican congresswoman emphasized that the Biden administration should collaborate with Bukele to tackle crime across the continent.
Salazar shared her thoughts via a video posted on the social media platform X. In her message, she stated, «El Salvador… now the safest country in the Western Hemisphere.»
“The Biden Administration must work with him to see how we can find ways to reduce crime across the continent.“
María Elvira Salazar on X.
During an exchange of words with Brian Nichols, the US State Department’s Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Salazar elaborated on the transformation that has taken place in El Salvador.
«El Salvador was at one point the murder capital of the world, and now it’s the safest country in the Western Hemisphere. Not bad, but you know Bukele wasn’t one of your favorites. What did he do right?»
she questioned.
But Salazar’s questioning is due to the hostile stance that the Biden administration has taken towards El Salvador under Nayib Bukele’s government, with Brian Nichols being part of the Biden administration.
Highlighting the fact that El Salvador’s security plan has yielded exceptional results.
Brian Nichols was also part of the official delegation that the US government sent to El Salvador for Nayib Bukele’s second presidential inauguration, where he coincided with Congresswoman Salazar.

For her part, unlike Brian Nichols and his delegation, who visited El Salvador for the presidential inauguration purely to represent the USA at the ceremony, María Elvira Salazar visited El Salvador alongside other US politicians due to her support for El Salvador’s security plan and her desire for it to be implemented in other Latin American countries, but especially in the United States where Joe Biden’s policies have done little or nothing to curb the rapidly increasing crime rate.

Nichols did not give a decisive answer to Congresswoman Salazar’s question when she asked him ‘what did he do right?‘ to which Brian Nichols only provided a non-committal response, seemingly to maintain the stance that the Biden administration has held from the beginning towards crime both in Latin America and the United States.
The US congresswoman’s remarks reflect a growing recognition of El Salvador’s improved security landscape, which once endured high levels of violence and crime but has now become a model for other nations.
Salazar’s call for cooperation between the Biden administration and President Bukele underscores the potential benefits of sharing successful strategies for reducing crime.
As El Salvador continues to make strides under Bukele’s leadership, the international community is taking note. With continued efforts and potential partnerships, the lessons learned from El Salvador’s experience could help improve security conditions across the Western Hemisphere.