EL SALVADOR’S president, Nayib Bukele, imposed some of the earliest and toughest measures in the Americas to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, with some success: As of Friday midday, the nation of 6 million had recorded 424 cases and 10 deaths from covid-19, fewer than most of its Central American neighbors. But recent events suggest the principal interest of the populist president is not protecting Salvadorans from illness; it’s consolidating his personal power at the expense of the country’s fragile democracy.