Karim Alberto Bukele Ortez (born 10 March 1986) is a Salvadoran businessman and politician. He is a younger brother of and presidential advisor to Nayib Bukele, the incumbent president of El Salvador. Bukele has worked as Nayib's campaign manager during his 2015 and 2019 electoral campaigns as well as the campaign manager for the Nuevas Ideas political party in 2021. The Salvadoran digital newspaper El Faro describes Bukele as a "political strategist and speechwriter" who "define[s] the direction of the presidency".
Early life
Karim Alberto Bukele Ortez was born on 10 March 1986 in El Salvador. His father was Armando Bukele Kattán and his mother is Olga Marina Ortez. Karim has an older brother, Nayib, and two younger twin brothers, Yusef and Ibrajim. In addition, Bukele also has four half-sisters and two half-brothers from his father's side of the family.
Business ventures
In 2006, Bukele, Andrés García, Ernesto Castro, and Bukele's older brother Nayib co-founded Sociedad 503 S.A. de C.V., a company which operates restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. In April 2012, Bukele became the president of Obermet S.A. de C.V. (also known as 4am Saatchi & Saatchi El Salvador) and as its CEO since 2014. He was also one of the company's legal representatives. Bukele was the CEO of Global Motors, S.A de C.V. until 20 July 2017 when he was succeeded by his brother Ibrajim. In October 2023, the El Faro digital newspaper alleged that Global Motors, S.A de C.V. secretly received 16 checks from the Banco Hipotecario amounting to US$118,143.23 from 2017 to 2019. El Faro alleged that the checks came from then-President Salvador Sánchez Cerén's supposed black budget.
Political career
Role as a campaign manager
Bukele became a close advisor to his older brother Nayib during the latter's term as mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán from 2012 to 2015. During Nayib's 2015 campaign to be elected as mayor of San Salvador, Bukele served as Nayib's campaign manager and coached him for his public speeches.
As he did in 2015, Bukele was Nayib's campaign manager during the 2019 presidential election. Nayib ran his campaign with the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA). In December 2018, after Nayib accused the Supreme Electoral Court of fraud by refusing to change GANA's color from orange to blue on the electoral ballot (as it had recently changed its official color), Bukele stated that "it is not just the color, the people know how to vote for the swallow, but when are they [the TSE] going to stop" (""). After Nayib refused to participate in the first presidential debate, Bukele stated that Nayib would not attend as there was no guarantee by the University of El Salvador, the organizers of the debate, that the debate would be impartial. Juan José Figueroa, a campaign advisor for Hugo Martínez of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), called Bukele and Nayib "liars and cowards" ("") for refusing to attend the debate. On election day, Nayib won an outright majority in the first round.
Bukele was the campaign manager for the Nuevas Ideas political party during the 2021 legislative election, in which, the party won supermajorities in the Legislative Assembly, municipalities, and the Central American Parliament.
Political influences
In April 2020, Fabio Castillo, a former secretary of the FMLN, stated regarding Bukele:
The only one who can have influence [over Nayib] is his brother Karim, who is more intelligent than the president but has one flaw: it gives him "reel", it excites him on a series of issues. And we arrive at a point where I like to mention: the government of El Salvador not only has given examples of not being democratic but has confirmed that it tribal in nature. The brothers of the president, the three of the Bukele Ortez group, have an incredible influence over the affairs of the state that they should not have.
Bukele accompanied Nayib on his presidential visit to China in December 2019. The Chinese government considered Bukele an important figure during the presidential visit, and Chinese ambassador to El Salvador Ou Jianhong personally thanked Bukele on Twitter for his "valuable work and important contributions".