The defence of wealth in fragile democracies and authoritarian regimes: lessons from El Salvador

The article analyses the strategies for the defence of wealth implemented by Salvadoran economic elites in the face of democratic governments and authoritarian regimes based on two paradigmatic cases: the leftist government led by Mauricio Funes (2009–2014) that promised to promote a programme of ‘cambio seguro’ (safe change) respecting the constitution and the democratic game and governing for the majority; and the autocratic government of Nayib Bukele (2019–2024) which, using anti-oligarchic language, promised to end ‘the system of perks and privileges built by the governments of the right and the left’ in the post-war period. In the face of the leftist government, the economic elites – including the oligarchic factions – entrenched themselves in the constitution, used democratic spaces to defend the global orientation of the economy and closed ranks against the increase in taxes and the greater intervention of the state in the economy. In the face of the authoritarian government of Nayib Bukele – sympathetic to the market economy and opposed to tax increases – the priority has been to protect and expand their spaces for capital accumulation and defend their social status, using democracy as a bargaining chip.