Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
New Year’s SALE: Up to 40% OFF InvestingPro+ CLAIM OFFER
El Salvador's Bukele scales up anti-gang push with new deployments
© Reuters. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele speaks at a deployment ceremony for the fifth phase of the Territorial Control plan in San Juan Opico, El Salvador November 23, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas
By Gerardo Arbaiza
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele promised on Wednesday to tighten security around major cities, the latest escalation of an eight-month-old war against gang violence which human rights groups say is marred by unjustified detentions.
Since March, Bukele has ordered the arrest of more than 50,000 suspected gang members, whom he calls terrorists, while denying basic process rights to those caught up in the dragnet.
The crackdown is one of his signature policies and is aimed at reducing the Central American country's homicide rate to less than two per day.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for military officers, Bukele said he would add more than 200 police officers to the 20,000 soldiers already patrolling cities with the remit to take on gang members.
The aim was to "surround large cities and extract the terrorists who are hiding within the communities, without giving them the slightest possibility of escape", he said.
The latest escalation follows congressional backing for a so-called state of exception, first approved in March, which imposes strict limits on freedom of association, the right to a legal defense, and restrictions on telecommunications.
According to government data, the crackdown has dramatically reduced killings attributed to gangs, with more than 200 days free of gang-linked deaths so far this year.
Bukele launched his controversial crackdown shortly after 76 Salvadorans died in a single weekend last March.
Human rights have blasted the policy, saying many people arrested have no prior criminal history.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.