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(CNN Spanish) - Since he came to power last June 1, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has shown his love for social networks.
Without going any further, in the first week of his government, most of his decisions - including the dismissal of relatives of former President Salvador Sánchez Cerén and officials linked to him - communicated them through Twitter.
This Thursday, Bukele took this love even further, to the very podium of the United Nations General Assembly, where he not only gave a speech focused on the power of networks and new technologies - in contrast to the “obsolete” format of the meeting at the UN - but he even had the luxury of taking a selfie when speaking to the other delegations present, which he later shared on his Twitter account.
#UNSelfie pic.twitter.com/P7qH5p2l04
- Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) September 26, 2019
"Believe me, many more people will see this selfie than those who will hear this speech," said Bukele, 38. "I hope it went well."
"Although we don't want to accept it, the network, every day, becomes more and more the real world and this format of assembly becomes increasingly obsolete," Bukele said.
“The world has changed and the General Assembly remains the same,” said the president of El Salvador in his speech, in which he mentioned that in some years thousands of people may not have to travel to New York for the annual meeting of the ONU.
“It is not that the United Nations or its General Assembly is obsolete, although we are on that path if we continue like this. But we still have the great opportunity to take advantage of this great network that is being built under our eyes, not only to save our relevance, but to multiply it exponentially, ”he said.
The president of #ElSalvador @nayibbukele takes a "selfie" at the beginning of his speech at the #General Assembly and ensures that this global meeting must change format, "or what happened to Blockbuster or Kodak will happen to him." # UNGA 📽️ pic.twitter.com/r8tUQtUnDc
- UN News (@NewsONU) September 26, 2019
The reactions to Bukele's speech were swift, especially in his country.
The United States ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, celebrated Bukele's presence in the Assembly.
Look at the present @NayibBukele before the General Assembly of the United Nations today ... look at the expression on the face of the first lady of #ElSalvador. That says everything! She reflects the pride of the nation! A pride that the US Share as friends and colleagues.
- Ambassador Ronald Johnson (@USAmbSV) September 27, 2019
Johnson also mentioned the wife of El Salvador's president, Gabriela Rodríguez de Bukele, who was present during the speech carrying her daughter Layla in her arms.
First lady and baby Layla of El Salvador at #UNGA as her dad @nayibbukele addresses the General Assembly. pic.twitter.com/sQXybcg4t5
- United Nations Photo (@UN_Photo) September 26, 2019
There were also criticisms for the speech, which some considered he lacked to address El Salvador's problems, while others went further and noted that Bukele's selfi was captured with Apple's new iPhone 11, which has just left the sale.
#Doubt existential and then took the trip to NYC to buy the iPhone 11 pro ?????? #QuestionSeria pic.twitter.com/b8bfN7mpqg
- Gbg (@gabboggie) September 26, 2019
During a single week of September every year, everyone from kings, presidents and prime ministers to food tasters, fly to New York to the United Nations headquarters for the General Assembly. This year, more than 90 heads of state had pledged to attend.
General Assembly of the ONUNayib Bukele