El Salvador’s two main opposition parties have formally named their candidates for the February 2027 presidential election, and both are running against President Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin strategy. The Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) selected former lawmaker Maytee Iraheta, while the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) nominated physician and union leader Rafael Aguirre. Both candidates described Bukele’s Bitcoin approach as a fiscal failure.
Bukele, whose approval rating currently stands at 94%, has already secured the nomination of his New Ideas party. The political divide comes after El Salvador rolled back one of Bukele’s signature crypto policies. In February 2025, after reaching a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the country removed Bitcoin’s status as legal tender, restoring the US dollar as the only official currency.
Even so, the government has continued buying roughly 1 BTC per day. As of July 27, El Salvador’s holdings stood at about 7,730 BTC, keeping Bitcoin on the political agenda ahead of the 2027 race.
El Salvador’s two main opposition parties have formally named their candidates for the February 2027 presidential election, and both are opposing President Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin strategy.
The Nationalist Republican Alliance, or ARENA, selected former lawmaker Maytee Iraheta. The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, nominated physician and union leader Rafael Aguirre. Both candidates have explicitly rejected Bukele’s Bitcoin policy and described it as a fiscal failure.
Bukele currently has a 94% approval rating, and his New Ideas party has already completed its nomination process.
El Salvador removed Bitcoin’s legal tender status in February 2025 after reaching a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The US dollar then became the country’s only official currency again. Even so, the government has kept buying about 1 BTC per day, with holdings standing at around 7,730 BTC as of July 27.
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