El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele achieved a resounding victory in the country’s elections on February 4. Speculation had been rife that he would secure a second term, especially after his administration implemented stringent measures, including the suspension of civil liberties, to combat criminal gangs in the South American nation. This crackdown led to a significant decrease in the murder rate, which had previously been the highest in the world.
On February 4, supporters of Bukele celebrated with fireworks lighting up the sky in front of the National Palace in San Salvador following the presidential election. Bukele addressed his supporters, stating, “Together, the opposition was completely defeated.”
Now, a video depicting stunning fireworks, purportedly in celebration of Bukele’s victory, is widely shared on social media. Sharing the video, a Facebook user wrote, “El Salvador: Fireworks illuminate the streets as President Nayib Bukele is re-elected in a historic landslide.”
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim and found it to be MISLEADING.
A Reverse Image Search of screenshots of keyframes from the viral video directed us to the same clip uploaded to YouTube on October 29, 2020. The video was titled, “Hajduk split 70 years.” This indicates that the original video was posted well over three years before the El Salvador Presidential elections.
We searched further on YouTube and discovered a video resembling the viral clip uploaded to a channel called “KN Torcida Split” on October 28, 2020. The title of the video translates to “70 years of Torcida/Because of one love.”
We looked for media reports on this incident and came across a video report by Yahoo Finance published in November 2020. It featured images of fireworks similar to those in the viral video. According to the report, Torcida, a renowned supporters’ group of the Croatian football club Hajduk Split, celebrated its 70th anniversary by illuminating the city of Split with flares and fireworks at midnight.
Thus, it is evident from the above information that the viral video is old and unrelated to Nayib Bukele’s recent presidential win in El Salvador.
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