On Sunday night in San Salvador, tens of thousands of high school students filled Jorge "El Mágico" González National Stadium. Many of them were accompanied by their parents and teachers, but all of them had one thing in common: excitement.
The energy in the stadium was undeniable, especially once El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, stepped out onto the stage. The attendees arrived early, brought banners, danced, and chanted his name.
See for yourself:
ASMR pic.twitter.com/6lFkn0yma1
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) August 26, 2026
El Presidente de TODOS los salvadoreños. 🇸🇻😉😌 pic.twitter.com/77cTLLlB3H
— Casa Presidencial 🇸🇻 (@PresidenciaSV) August 24, 2026
This is a clear sign of a nation reborn... and that's exactly what the name of this event was: "El Salvador Reborn" or "El Salvador Renace."
The heart of the event was an announcement that the Salvadoran government would provide 50,000 scholarships this year for public high-school graduates to cover university degrees, technical training, vocational courses, and even some opportunities to study abroad with more to come. He said he wants the kids to have choices and opportunities that might not otherwise be available to them. He wants them to decide what they want to do with their lives and go do it.
What's important to note is that this is not a random decision.
I've covered what Bukele and his team are doing for the nation's youth and education at length. Building new schools and refurbishing old ones. Insisting children show up dressed properly and behave respectfully. Providing them with the tools and supplies they need to actually get an education. Working with the private sector to ensure kids have access to technology. Removing gender ideology and other subjects that aren't part of a classical education.
Bukele is investing in the youth of his nation so that El Salvador doesn't return to its past — the so-called "murder capital of the world" that was so overrun with gangs and terrorist groups that the only choices kids often had were becoming a target, being recruited, or leaving their country in search of a better life. Many of them dropped out of school because there were no opportunities or they were merely afraid of the violence they might encounter.
He's giving these kids choices the generations before them didn't have.
Previous corrupt governments bled education programs dry and lined their own pockets with the funds. Bukele has said countless times that when no one steals, the money is there. As I said, he's also relied on private investments to help jump-start his new education initiatives, and he's even had prisoners building furniture for the new schools. The way it's all been planned out is quite impressive.
To fund these specific scholarships, he signed a $100 million agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank, and for his broader education plans, he's working with the World Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
But that's not all. He's ensuring these kids have government support as well.
"Today we are going to publish the complete education investment budget. We are going to move to an investment of more than $3 billion a year, more than triple what previous governments invested, more than 8% of our GDP," Bukele announced at the event on Sunday.
Most international groups suggest that nations should spend between 4% and 6% of their GDP on education. The United States, which is slightly above the world average, spends 5.4% to 5.6%.
According to Infobae, "The plan [also] includes providing computers to all students, connecting schools to the internet, training tens of thousands of teachers, updating curricula, and creating spaces for children and young people to access training in technology, robotics, and artificial intelligence." It will also expand to children in remote areas.
"This event is called 'El Salvador Renace' and it's not just a slogan but it's literal, El Salvador is going to be reborn with you," Bukele said at the event. "We went from being the most dangerous country in the world to the safest. Today, thanks to you we will become the most capable. Future generations will remember this moment and say: Here is when El Salvador began to change, when its young people had the opportunity to prepare themselves, get ahead, and transform forever the course of our country."
He also reminded the students that help from their government could only get them so far; they have to rise to the occasion and take advantage of these opportunities: "You will have a great responsibility because this scholarship thing is a deal: We give you the scholarship, we give you the opportunity, but you have to make an effort and study."
He continued:
There is one thing that no government in the world can give you: effort. Especially when maybe you don't feel like making an effort.
You all know the difference between motivation and discipline, right? You're motivated right now, we're all motivated, we all want to take on the world, we all have energy, we all want to get ahead.
But maybe tomorrow, you won't be so motivated, maybe in a week you'll feel a bit down, a bit unmotivated. That's where discipline needs to kick in over motivation. We must have the discipline to study, to work, to push ourselves always. When we're motivated like today and when we're not motivated too
Bukele also had a message for those in the world who continuously misrepresent and mischaracterize him: "The journalists accompanying us can see that here there is no youth oppressed by a dictatorship; on the contrary, here there is pure joy."
Joy indeed. It's a new start for a new generation building a new nation, and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.
Nuestra juventud pasó del miedo a la alegría. pic.twitter.com/VRzbQNOYIl
— Casa Presidencial 🇸🇻 (@PresidenciaSV) August 26, 2026
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