El Salvador’s president gets rock-star welcome at conservative gathering outside Washington

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (AP) — El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele received a rock-star welcome Thursday at a conservative gathering outside Washington as he urged people to “unapologetically fight” against what he called “dark forces.”

At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, Bukele told people to use El Salvador as a warning. He said gangs took control of his country and society decades ago and said a fight was needed to arrest criminals and remove corrupt judges.

“The next president of the United States must not only win an election, he must have the vision, the will and the courage to do whatever it takes, and above all, he must be able to identify the underlying forces that will conspire against him,” Bukele said in fluent English at the gathering in National Harbor, Maryland, south of Washington. “These dark forces are already taking over your country.”

The four-day conference will also host the new president of Argentina, right-wing populist Javier Milei. He is scheduled to speak Saturday, the same day former President Donald Trump will give the headlining address.

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