At Paris Fashion Week, designer Willy Chavarría, of Mexican origin but born in the United States, presented a runway show that spotlighted political dynamics in the Americas. Chavarría had men take to the catwalk dressed entirely in white with their hands behind their backs and kneel. The clothing and the pose were a clear reference to prisoners held at the Salvadoran prison CECOT—a de facto concentration camp where prisoners are brought with no access to the outside world, and therefore little hope for recourse of any kind. Also detained at the CECOT are 252 undocumented migrants deported from the United States.
Bukele responded ironically to Chavarría’s artistic expression condemning him: “we are ready to send them to Paris as soon as we receive the green light from the French government.” The Salvadoran presidency press secretary’s statement added, the fashion show “paid tribute to the criminals imprisoned at CECOT.”
Nayib Bukele’s regime in El Salvador has been waging an all-out fight against criminal gangs since March 2022, declaring a state of emergency and summarily arresting of tens of thousands of people. Bukele’s declared war on crime has earned him strong popularity and re-election in 2024 for a second term, which is technically unconstitutional in his country. Photos of the harrowing conditions in the prisons where the Salvadoran president has locked up tens of thousands of people have gone viral around the world.
Under the Bukele regime, which has been widely criticized by humanitarian organizations for the wanton methods by which it has taken people from the streets, 86,000 people have been arrested, of whom about 8,000 have been released.
