Journal of Haiti and the Americas
Salvador: “the population supports Nayib Bukele”
Audio 7:30 p.m.
Men are detained by police on suspicion of a homicide near a market in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, March 27, 2022. © AP Photo/Salvador Melende
By: Mikaël Ponge Follow |
Mikael Ponge Follow
3 mins
Against the background of a state of emergency, more than 12,000 gang members have been captured in three weeks in El Salvador.
High-profile arrests after the wave of murders attributed to criminal gangs at the end of March.
Despite criticism from NGOs and abroad, President Nayib Bukele remains supported by his people.
Advertisement
87 people were killed between March 25 and 27, 2022, including 62 on March 26 alone, the bloodiest day in the country in the 21st century.
A wave of murders attributed to gangs by the authorities.
"
There are two hypotheses
" to understand these murders, explains our guest, Benjamin Moallic, researcher at the Center for Mexican and Central American Studies: "
Either a breakdown in negotiations between President Bukele and the gangs which led to reprisals, or well we are witnessing a showdown between the gangs and the government to negotiate with more force
".
To respond to this, a state of emergency was put in place for a month, giving President Nayib Bukele exceptional powers.
To carry out his ultra-repressive policy, which led to the arrest of 12,000 members of the maras, the head of state had very strict laws passed in Parliament, where his supporters are in the majority: laws multiplying by five the Penalties provided for belonging to a criminal group, making it possible to sentence up to ten years in prison for children from the age of 12.
But also against the media since any dissemination of a gang message can now be punished by fifteen years in prison.
“
There may be doubts
, believes Benjamin Moallic, more and more of those arrested are considered pandilleros when they have nothing to do with gangs.
Despite everything, the researcher underlines the support of the population for Nayib Bukele who still enjoys "
strong popularity, thanks to his economic and security management
".
►
To read also: Salvador: President Nayib Bukele welcomes the arrest of 6,000 gang members
Covid: Brazil announces the lifting of restrictions “in the coming days”
Decided in February 2020 as part of the fight against Covid, health measures are living their last hours in Brazil thanks to the reduction in the number of deaths and contaminations.
The measure will be formalized "
in the coming days
" by a decree which will pronounce the end of the health emergency which allowed the use of vaccines and the purchase of drugs without restriction, said the Minister of Health Marcelo Queiroga on April 17, 2022. .
This decision was taken after President Jair Bolsonaro, long skeptical of the coronavirus, asked his minister a few weeks ago to decree the “
end of the pandemic
” and the return to normal.
"
This measure, however, does not mean the end of Covid-19.
We will continue to live with the virus
, ”added Marcelo Queiroga, however.
The government of the far-right president, who is running for re-election next fall, has come under fire for his handling of the pandemic, which has claimed nearly 662,000 lives in Brazil since March 2020, just one figure surpassed by the United States.
In Mexico, first failure for Amlo
The President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, suffered his first setback on Sunday April 17, 2022 with the rejection by deputies of his flagship project to reform the constitution strengthening the role of the public sector in the production of electricity, a measure criticized by the United States.
Despite attempts at poaching, the presidential party Morena (Movement for National Regeneration) and its allies did not reach a qualified two-thirds majority in the Chamber of Deputies, where the three major opposition parties united and voted versus.
The nationalist left-wing president had raised the issue of electricity market reform to the rank of national sovereignty issues in the face of foreign, American and Spanish companies.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
United States
salvador
Brazil
Coronavirus
Mexico
On the same subject
In the spotlight: Salvadoran president attacks the United States and a specialist in armed gangs
Salvador: President Nayib Bukele welcomes the arrest of 6,000 gang members
Mexico: after referendum, President López Obrador continues his mandate until 2024