El Salvador Extends State of Emergency for the 24th Time – Two Years of Anti-Gang Hardcore Measures Brought About an Unprecedented Drop in Homicide Numbers
The security situation in El Salvador continues to improve remarkably despite constant MSM and NGO criticism.
There’s no disputing that the means by which President Nayib Bukele got rid of the gang power in El Salvador are pretty brutal.
Having said that, since no other leader with more ‘humane’ methods has ever managed to accomplish that same feat in similar situations, we are left with the distinct impression that these brutal means may very well be the only workable solution.
To that end, El Salvador’s Congress has granted a request by President for the 24th consecutive one-month extension of an anti-gang emergency decree.
The country has now spent two years under the decree, ‘which suspends some rights’.
Associated Press reported:
“Bukele has used emergency powers to round up 78,175 suspected gang members in sweeps that rights groups say are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live. The government has had to release about 7,000 people because of a lack of evidence.
The measure was approved Friday with 67 votes in the 84-seat congress, where Bukele’s party holds a majority.
The original 30-day state of emergency — approved on March 27, 2022, following a spate of 62 killings in one day — restricts the right to gather, to be informed of rights and have access to a lawyer. It extends to 15 days the time that someone can be held without charges.”
But – you may ask – is that working? Is it really worth it?
Check the numbers: El Salvador’s homicide totals have dropped from about 18 per day — to 18 so far this year (70 days).
That’s a ‘thirty-six-fold’ improvement. Is that not progress?
But, of course, gang-loving NGOs do not agree.
‘Rights groups’ have expressed concerns about abuses inside El Salvador’s prisons, and further say that innocent people are being caught up in sweeps targeting the notorious violent street gangs.
All of which is far from impossible to be happening. Needless to say, no country is perfect – and certainly not El Salvador.
But Bukele was elected and reelected to tackle the gang problem, and that is exactly what he is doing.
“Gangs once controlled swaths of territory through brutality and fear. They have driven thousands to emigrate to save their own lives, or the lives of their children who are forcibly recruited.
The gangs’ power was strongest in El Salvador’s poorest neighborhoods, where the state has been long absent. They were a drain on the economy, extorting money from even the lowest earners, and forcing businesses that can’t or won’t pay to close.”
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