There seems to have been a deliberate smear campaign... Perhaps, an actual assassination would make him too much of a martyr (for bitcoin and his country/region)?? 

 Goes back to your "you can't nuke Bitcoin" point. Best they can do at this point is send P Diddy to one of his State of the Union parties tbh  

 Idk. Arrogance mostly probably. 

Also attacking Bukele more than they already have - after such a positive turnaround in El Salvador - would give credibility to El Salvador and diminish any remaining trust in Western/Russian mainstream media. 

They can call him a dictator and make people fear him for the power he has in the country but if they push further than that, then people start to question the anti Bukele propaganda.