Surf's up for the 'cool dictator' ... but what price democracy?

El Salvador's president hopes sport tourism will boost the economy — and his popularity. But enticing the world's top surfers will not end fears over civil rights

- Claire McQue

"There's so much power in the wave," says Australian pro-surfer Sally Fitzgibbons. "It's like someone broke the tap and it's just endless swell. I don't know any other place in the world that's this consistent.

As she speaks, Fitzgibbons watches surfers ride the waves unpeeling along El Salvador's rocky shores. A combination of river mouths and rocky points transforms swells in the Pacific into the surfers' dream of barrelling waves. Further back, onlookers sip Salvadorean coffee on a platform that smells of freshly cut wood.

The buzz in Surf City, as this part of the coast is called, reminds Fitzgibbons of Nazaré in Portugal. It went from fishing village to surf mecca in the space of 15 years. Her team were crowned champions at this month’s World Surfing Games (WSG) in the coastal town of El Tunco.

An international surf contest in El Salvador would have been unthinkable a decade ago. In 2015, the murder rate was 106 per 100,000 - comparable to war-torn countries. Last year, it was 1.9 per 100,000, making the country about as safe as Canada.

The difference is down to the young president, Nayib Bukele, who came to power in 2019, promising to crack down on gangsters. But it came at a price. He has stripped civil liberties, eroded judicial independence and dismantled checks on his power.