Patrick Hiebert

"We can now aspire to more" speech: "We do not answer to the international community. We do not bow to countries that insist on telling us how to solve our problems, when they cannot even solve their own." "In El Salvador, we achieved what no country in Latin America could achieve, not even some of the continent's major powers." "We transformed the old political system and wrested control of the State from criminals. But perhaps our greatest achievement is not security, but having truly gained the ability to reinvent ourselves." "From the beginning, we had the leadership, the vision, the courage, the determination, but we lacked the necessary conditions. We gradually created those conditions." "First, by winning the presidency, then by governing despite the obstacles, and finally, with the victory of this Legislative Assembly. That victory also allowed us to achieve not only effective governance, but also to clean up the judicial system and the Public Prosecutor’s Office." "Without those changes, it would've been impossible to wage the war against gangs. El Salvador is a small country, without the resources of the world's great powers. Yet even so, we have been fixing what was wrong." "And we are becoming increasingly aware that a different way of life is indeed possible. For a country like ours, which was on the brink of collapse due to violence, reinventing ourselves was not just necessary, it was vital." "Today we can say this without exaggeration: we are no longer the same. At last, Salvadorans can now think about something other than avoiding being killed. We can now aspire to more." "El Salvador is a different country. Now it truly belongs to us." "Now business owners can think about how to increase sales, how to improve their services, how to open new locations." "They no longer worry about how to pay extortion money at the end of the month or being killed for failing to pay. Young people can envision a different future instead of simply being recruited or murdered by gangs." 🇸🇻🚀