Americas press review
Headlines: In El Salvador, a city besieged to hunt down criminal gangs
Security forces are deployed in the streets of Soyapango, December 3, 2022. © AP/Salvador Melendez
Text by: Achim Lippold Follow
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The army and police are currently surrounding the town of Soyapango, on the outskirts of the capital San Salvador.
More than 140 suspected gang members were arrested during this special operation launched this weekend.
At 3 a.m. this Saturday precisely, phase 5 of the territorial control plan nicknamed
“extraction of criminals”
began, writes the newspaper
El Mundo
.
According to President Nayib Bukele, the state has regained control of the city.
About 10,000 members of the security forces are mobilized, 8,500 soldiers and 1,500 police to hunt down the "maras", the dreaded criminal gangs that reign terror in El Salvador.
According to
El Mundo
, which relays information from the police, this operation made it possible to capture in particular Alexander Pineda, alias "Lazy", one of the leaders of the armed group Barrio 18. The authorities consider him to be one "
of the most wanted terrorists of the country, which ordered homicides and extortions at the national level
”
.
According to the daily
Prensa Grafica
, the security forces not only surround the city, but are deployed in the various districts of Soyapango.
Pedestrians are searched, there are controls in public transport.
The police and soldiers check the identity documents and they look at the men for tattoos which can allude to gangs.
For now, we do not know how long this operation will last.
Divergent reactions to the police and military operation
Human rights organizations are critical of the city siege, writes the
Expediente Publico
news site .
This is a militarization of public security which represents a violation of the rights of citizens, believes Celia Medrano, human rights activist.
The Archbishop of San Salvador supports the action of the government
.
“
It is a duty of the state to prosecute criminals
,” he said, quoted by the online newspaper.
In any case, the war against the gangs has been going on for 8 months now, specifies
Expediente Publico
, since March of this year 60,000 people have been arrested.
Donald Trump “
prepares the ground for a coup
”
Critics abound after the latest statements by Donald Trump: the former president called on Saturday to abandon the American Constitution to reconsider the result of the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden.
"The former president has suggested suspending the Constitution to bolster
his absurd belief that he won the elections and that their results can be changed
," writes the
Washington Post
.
the Constitution now uses the founding fathers of our country in the service of its megalomania
”
.
For the
Washington Post
columnist , it is a call for insurrection through social networks
.
“
Nothing - and certainly not an imaginary '
fraud
' ... can '
terminate
' the constitutional guarantees.
Trump is setting the stage for a coup
,” the
Washington Post
points out .
For the site of the CNN
chain
, Donald Trump's call to end the Constitution is a fantasy, but the former president remains dangerous, because he still enjoys many supports within his party and especially from the electoral base. .
Cristina Kirchner: "
It's a firing squad
"
In Argentina, Vice-President Cristina Kirchner, accused of corruption, will be sealed on her fate tomorrow, Tuesday.
On the eve of the verdict, she gave an exclusive interview to Brazilian newspaper
Folha de São Paulo
.
She claims to be the victim of a “
firing squad
”.
The charges against her (alleged corruption and fraud in her stronghold in the province of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, during her two presidential terms, between 2007 and 2015), are an “
absolute lie
”, she says.
Cristina Kirchner compares herself to Brazilian President-elect Lula.
Like him, she
would be
“
a victim of judges who persecute people for political reasons.
»
In the conversation with
Folha
, the Argentinian vice-president affirms that the "
Party of justice
", is widespread in several regions of the country and that today it fulfills the function that was previously carried out by the military, namely to control the “
popular will
”
.
This party of justice stands in the way of political authorities who, according to Kirchner, promote social inclusion and the defense of national heritage.
She admits that “
Argentina, whose poverty reaches 30% of the population and which faces an annual inflation rate of almost 90%, is not doing well.
But she puts the blame on the shoulders of President Alberto Fernández.
»
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