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Birds of a feather flock together

Jesús Sánchez Meleán

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They say “birds of a feather flock together.” The saying never fails. Nayib Bukele and Nicolás Maduro are two peas in the same authoritarian pod. And while they sing to different melodies—one disguises himself as modern and efficient, while the other is stuck in the old choruses of revolution—they both dance to the same song. For both of them, power has no limits.

Maduro inherited the baton from Hugo Chávez, who had already set up his “plebiscitary model”: elections that were not elections, but ovations. In that electoral theater, the people did not choose, they acclaimed. And if one day they voted differently, as in 2015 when the opposition won the National Assembly, Maduro simply played deaf.

Birds of a feather flock together

He did not recognize the results of 2024 and began his witch hunt. Today in Venezuela there are more than 900 political prisoners. Their crime? Wanting the popular decision to be respected, which determined that they wanted a change of government and the departure of Maduro and Chavismo from power. And Bukele, the “cool” TikTok and X influencer, is on the same highway.

With his influencer look and anti-corruption discourse, he has taken his next step. He can now be president for life. He put another “patch” on the Constitution. First, he put his own judges on the Supreme Court, then they authorized themselves to allow him immediate, consecutive re-election. And so, step by step.

Birds of a feather flock together

Bukele has been designing a constitution to suit… his ego. He has already been sworn in for a second term, violating the letter and spirit of Salvadoran laws. And he says it without shame: he will stay “until his body can no longer take it.” Maduro and Bukele despise alternation. They both control the courts.

They both manipulate elections. They both persecute those who criticize them. They are from the same club. From the club of those who do not understand that democracy is about respecting the game, accepting defeat, and letting go of power when it is time. So don’t be fooled by the hairstyle, the Instagram account, or the Caribbean accent. Birds of a feather, without a doubt, flock together.