In Ecuador, shock operation against gangs: Soyapango, the second city of the country under siege

Salvador, December 3, 2022: the country's second city, Soyapango, under army control as part of an anti-gang operation launched by President Bukele.

AP - Salvador Melendez

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

The second Salvadoran city has been totally surrounded by more than 10,000 men since Friday.

President Nayib Bukele has ordered the capture of gang leaders still hiding in what has until now been one of their last strongholds. 

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with our regional correspondent,

No car, no motorbike, no bus, no truck can enter or leave Soyapango without being searched by the 8,500 soldiers and 1,500 police officers deployed around this city of one million inhabitants, a few kilometers from the capital San Salvador.

President

, who has made the fight against gangs one of the driving forces of his presidency, confirmed this on his Twitter account, indicating that " 

 ".

From estos momentos, the municipality of Soyapango is totally surrounded.

8,500 soldiers and 1,500 agents rodeado la ciudad, mientras los teams de extracción de la policía y el ejército encargan de sacar uno a uno a todos los pandilleros que aún encuentran ahí.

pic.twitter.com/9QIpj0ziwX

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 3, 2022

Beyond the troops that surround the city and its accesses, the heavily armed anti-terrorist units practically go door to door in search of the leaders of the gangs who for years have reigned terror in the country.

This operation marks the beginning of the 5th phase of

when the state of emergency was declared.

At the time, up to 62 people were murdered every day and these gangs, the “maras”, the two main ones being Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18, had around 70,000 members.

Today fear has changed sides.

Some 58,000 suspected gang members have been arrested since late March and, with 13 murders, November was considered the safest month in El Salvador's history.

Diciembre cierra su tercer día, todos sin homicidios.

Gracias a Dios.#GuerraContraPandillas https://t.co/QjGlVURjPn

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 4, 2022

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: In El Salvador, mass arrests to fight against gangs

Despite recent protests by 200 family members of detainees, President Bukele has indicated that this operation is directed "against criminals, not honorable citizens" and is destined to be repeated in all gang strongholds in the country.

But human rights organizations have denounced these spectacular police operations.

El Salvador: the government has sent 10,000 men (army and police) to the country's second largest city, Soyapango, to fight against gangs.

AP - Salvador Melendez

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• Nayib Bukele