Nayib Bukele

“I started being president when I was 37. I don't wanna be out - I'm gonna be out of the presidency at 42. I really don't wanna be in jail at 43, right? So I mean I'm not here to steal money.”

“There's a clamor among the Salvadoran people to combat corruption.”

“The police and armed forces must prioritize safeguarding their lives, those of their companions and of honest citizens. The use of lethal force is authorized in self-defense or in defense of the lives of Salvadoreans.”

“For us, the government of Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro is not a government that allows democratic plurality. It does not allow for there to be a real opposition, and that is not democratic.”

“If the U.S. government is serious about fighting irregular migration, it should support and encourage legal migration.”

“How much would Italy give to be in our position and be able to declare a quarantine before having thousands of cases? We are facing a pandemic with an incredible virility that has probably never been seen before.”

“El Salvador needs to be friends with the United States. It is an imperative for us.”

“Just as I would not abide by a resolution ordering me to kill Salvadorans. I also cannot abide by a resolution that orders me to let them die.”

“It is clear that there has been money, but it has gone to line the pockets of the corrupt.”

“People don't flee their homes because they want to, people flee their homes because they feel they have to. Why? Because they don't have a job, because they are being threatened by gangs, because they don't have basic things like water, education, health.”

“Lawmakers are scandalized when they see a soldier, but they were not scandalized when gang members entered the Legislative Assembly to negotiate the lives of Salvadorans.”

“I think migration is a right, but it should be an option, not an obligation.”

“The people are going to be able to judge for themselves who is supporting corruption and who is against it.”

“We can send all the blame to any government we like. We can say President Trump's policies are wrong. We can say Mexico's policies are wrong. But, what about our blame?”

“We're trying to challenge the gangs, not by repression, but by competing to get the young people to our side.”

“We will make a country that is more prosperous and that can provide decent paying jobs for all of our people.”

“When you have your own people fleeing their homes it's not because they found a job somewhere else... then you have something to fix in your country.”

“Sometimes what's recommended to the people is something different than what's recommended to the leaders, because I have been recommended to use hydroxychloroquine as a prophylaxis and the probability of this harming you is very low.”

“We want to be friends with China, but China has to be friends with us. I don't mean money or investment, but respect.”

“I believe that the way politics has been done in the country is wrong. It has always been based on alliances that don't have the well-being of the people as their first priority.”