The "ceasefire" between El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele and the country's criminal gangs came to an abrupt end over the weekend.

Within three days, the Central American country with around 6.5 million inhabitants counted over 80 murders, 62 on Saturday alone, which will go down in the country's history as one of the bloodiest days since the end of the civil war.

Tjerk Bruhwiller

Correspondent for Latin America based in São Paulo.

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President Bukele's reply was not long in coming.

When the number of murders became known, he had parliament approve the imposition of a national emergency.

The state of emergency, which will initially apply for thirty days, allows the government to restrict freedom of entry and exit, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

Interference with telecommunications is also possible.

In addition, people can be arrested for up to 15 days without giving a reason.

Bukele refers to a constitutional article that provides for the suspension of constitutional guarantees in the event of war, invasion of territory, rebellion, riot, disaster, epidemic, or other serious disturbance of public order.

Acceptance of the measure was a mere formality.

Bukele's party controls 64 of the 84 seats in parliament, giving the president virtually unlimited freedom of action.

The President warns the judges

Before the emergency regime was declared, Bukele also warned the country's judges not to take action against possible human rights violations by the security forces.

Judges who side with the criminals will be remembered, he wrote on Twitter, demanding that they "let the military and police do their jobs" to crack down on gang members.

So far, however, it has been the government itself that has made pacts with the various criminal gangs in the country.

Last year, extensive research by the investigative online journal "El Faro" revealed that government officials and gang leaders had met and colluded, with the gangs agreeing to a "ceasefire" in exchange for prison privileges and guarantees of non-extradition “ committed.

The pact led to a reduction in the murder rate in the country long mired in violence, which has contributed to Bukele's popularity.

But apparently the gangs didn't get what they wanted.

According to a source in the security apparatus, the victims were randomly selected over the weekend, as if it had been all about the killings.