Salvador: President Bukele's strategy in the face of criminal gangs

Text by: RFI Follow

In Central America, gangs are taking advantage of the Covid-19 epidemic, which is monopolizing the attention of the authorities. In El Salvador, the number of daily homicides has exploded. In response to this new surge of violence, President Nayib Bukele announced several measures on Sunday, April 26, including that of mixing members of the various gangs in prisons in order to limit their ability to plan their actions outside.

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The prisons of El Salvador are now in a state of emergency. Too many killings have reportedly been carried out from their cells. Friday, April 24, 22 people were killed by gangs on the streets of the country. It is the highest toll of the government of Nayib Bukele .

The solution for the president is therefore to put an end to the regrouping of prisoners according to the armed group to which they belong. This rule was put in place in 2002 to reduce inter-clan clashes inside prisons.

Get the upper hand on gangs

"  From this moment, we will work on the establishment of a new prison regime in all the penitentiary centers of the country,  " tweeted Osiris Luna Meza, Deputy Minister of Justice in charge of prisons, this Monday, April 27. This tweet followed a long series of posts on Twitter on the takeover of prisons by the government.

Desde este mismo instante vamos a trabajar en establecer un nuevo regimen penitenciario en todos los centros penales del país. pic.twitter.com/KnGh3b5EHg

But today, the urgency is to regain the upper hand on terrorists who profited from the situation, explained the president. Currently, the majority of security forces are indeed focused on controlling the Covid-19 epidemic.

From the point of view of the Salvadoran Human Rights Commission, this measure is risky. It is a time bomb that could lead to an explosion of targeted or even collective homicide behind bars.

President Bukele is nicknamed "the dictator" on social networks. To cope with the violence inherited from the civil war in the country, he opted for a policy of military force that many disapprove of.

 ►Also read: The Maras, a puzzle for the Salvadoran government

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• Salvador
• Coronavirus
• Nayib Bukele

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