El Salvador’s president labels himself world’s ‘coolest dictator’ in Twitter bio

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on Tuesday changed his Twitter bio to declared himself “the coolest dictator in the world,” as the leader faces growing pushback in his country from opponents who say that he has sought to concentrate power and weaken independent institutions.

The move came after Bukele over the weekend changed his Twitter profile to simply ready “dictator” in what appeared to be a response to recent protests in the Central American country.

Last week, thousands of people gathered in the country’s capital of San Salvador for a mass demonstration against Bukele, who argued at the time that protesters “took to the streets to fight a dictatorship that doesn’t exist,” according to The Associated Press.

Bukele’s latest self-proclaimed title also follows the U.S. State Department’s decision Monday to add five El Salvadoran Supreme Court justices to the U.S. Undemocratic and Corrupt Actors list.

According to the State Department, the five justices were appointed by members of Bukele’s New Ideas party — which won the majority in the country’s legislature earlier this year — in “an unusual process” that seemingly violated El Salvador’s constitution.

The U.S. Embassy in the country said in a statement that the new justices “undermined democratic processes or institutions by approving a controversial interpretation of the Constitution authorizing re-election of the President despite an express prohibition in the Constitution forbidding consecutive terms of the Presidency.”

U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Jean Manes said Monday, “The actions by these five magistrates demonstrate a clear strategy to undermine judicial independence and remove a critical counterbalance to the executive branch.”

“These actions damage the bilateral relationship the United States strives to have with the government of El Salvador,” Manes added.

However, the move received condemnation from Bukele, who said that U.S. action was “pure politics and the lowest form of interventionism,” and had “nothing to do with corruption,” according to the AP.

The populist president also tweeted Monday, “We are nobody’s back yard.” 

No somos “patio trasero” de nadie

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) September 20, 2021

While Bukele has maintained a relatively high level of popularity since his election in 2019, some citizens claim he is cementing himself as a dictator by supporting the replacements of the justices, as well as the country’s independent attorney general. 

Earlier this month, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender, which Bukele said would help introduce more citizens to formal banking and provide a cheaper alternative for purchasing remittances abroad. 

However, some critics of the move have said it will only create more instability for the country’s already weak economy.