salvadorean here, dictatorship means absolute power, which he currently has now that they control the 3 branches [1]

[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/06/world/el-salvador-preside...

Did he persecute people like Pinochet did? Calling him a dictator is like having someone saying that misgendering them caused them PTSD: it is putting war induced trauma in the same bag as whatever misgendering is.

"Persecuting people like Pinochet" isn't really the bar.

I was alluding to the time he brought the military into the legislature to force through his 'crime package.' [1]

Belorussian leader Alexander Lukashenko refers to himself as the "last dictator in Europe" and I don't think he "persecutes people like Pinochet." He was also elected.

[1] https://www.npr.org/2020/02/10/804407503/troops-occupy-el-sa...

I have no idea who exactly is or isn't a dictator, but there is a Spanish word for the situation when a democratically or legally elected leader acquires dictatorial powers by breaking down institutions: it's called an "autogolpe" or self-coup.

I realize it happens outside of Central and South America, but it's suggestive that there's a specific word.