El Salvador Seeks Stronger Relations with China as U.S. Influence Wanes

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele gestures as he speaks to supporters outside the Legislative Assembly in San Salvador on Feb. 9, 2020. MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - During the final days of 2021, the populist president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, began reaching out to China as an economic life raft while foreign policy in the small Central American nation underwent a subtle, but important shift.

Primary among those changes was a noticeable cooling trend developing with the United States.