Salvadoran gang crackdown

Salvadoran gang crackdown
Salvadoran gang crackdown
Guerra Contra las Pandillas; Part of the Territorial Control Plan
	Clockwise from top left: the detention of suspected gang members by the police, a police search of a house, imprisoned gang members, soldiers on patrol in the streets.
Date	27 March 2022 – present; (2 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 4 days);
Location	El Salvador
Caused by	Spike in murders in late-March 2022
Status	Ongoing
Parties
Criminal gangs Mara Salvatrucha; Barrio 18;	Salvadoran government Salvadoran Army; National Civil Police;
Lead figures
	Non-centralized leadership; Nayib Bukele; Ernesto Castro; René Merino Monroy; Mauricio Arriaza; Gustavo Villatoro;
Casualties
Death(s)	241+ (as of April 2024)
Arrested	78,175 (as of 2 April 2024)

The Salvadoran gang crackdown, referred to in El Salvador as the régimen de excepción (Spanish for state of exception)^[3] and the guerra contra las pandillas (Spanish for war against gangs),^[4] began in March 2022 in response to a crime spike between 25 and 27 March 2022, when 87 people were killed in El Salvador. The Salvadoran government blamed the spike in murders on criminal gangs in the country, resulting in the country's legislature approving a state of emergency that suspended the rights of association and legal counsel, and increased the time spent in detention without charge, among other measures that expanded the powers of law enforcement in the country.

As of 2 April 2024, 79,184 people accused of having gang affiliations have been arrested,^[2] which has overcrowded El Salvador's prisons and has led the country to have the highest incarceration rate in the world by 2023.^[5] As of 16 May 2023, 5,000 people who were arrested have been released.^[6] In January 2023, Minister of Defense René Merino Monroy announced that the government registered 496 homicides in 2022, a 56.8% decrease from 1,147 homicides in 2021. He attributed the decrease in homicides to the gang crackdown.^[7] That same month, the government opened the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a prison with a capacity for 40,000 prisoners.^[8]

Domestically, the crackdown has been popular among Salvadorans weary of gang violence. Conversely, human rights groups expressed concern that the arrests were arbitrary and had little to do with gang violence, and several U.S. government representatives expressed concern about the violence in the country and the methods used to combat it; these comments were criticized by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Politicians across Latin America—in countries such as Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, and Peru—have implemented or have called for the implementation of security policies similar to those implemented by Bukele.^[9]

^ Alemán, Marcos (3 April 2024). "At Least 241 People Have Died in El Salvador's Prisons During the 'War on Gangs', Rights Group Says". Associated Press. San Salvador, El Salvador. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
^ ^a ^b "El Salvador Minister Says 75% of Gang Members Arrested". Barron's. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
^ "Qué es un Régimen de Excepción – El Salvador" [What is the Regime of Exception – El Salvador]. Alianza Americas (in Spanish). 27 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
^ "Presidente Nayib Bukele Ordena Fortalecer Guerra Contra las Pandillas y Anuncia el Incremento de Presencia Policial en los Territorios" [President Nayib Bukele Orders to Strengthen the War Against Gangs and Announces Increased Police Presence in the Territories]. Government of El Salvador (in Spanish). 28 June 2022. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
^ "El Salvador Is Imprisoning People at Triple the Rate of the US". Bloomberg.com. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
^ "Ministro de Seguridad confirma liberación de 5 mil detenidos durante el régimen de excepción". La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). 16 May 2023. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023.
^ Renteria, Nelson (3 January 2023). "El Salvador Murders Plummet by Over Half in 2022 Amid Gang Crackdown". Reuters. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
^ Murray, Christine; Smith, Alan (6 March 2023). "Inside El Salvador's Mega Prison: The Jail Giving Inmates Less Space than Livestock". Financial Times. Mexico City and London. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
^ Linthicum, Kate (25 July 2023). "Inside the Growing Cult of El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, Latin America's Political Star". Los Angeles Times. Mexico City, Mexico. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.

[1] Alemán, Marcos (3 April 2024). "At Least 241 People Have Died in El Salvador's Prisons During the 'War on Gangs', Rights Group Says". Associated Press. San Salvador, El Salvador. Retrieved 4 April 2024.

[arrests-2] "El Salvador Minister Says 75% of Gang Members Arrested". Barron's. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.

[RdE-3] "Qué es un Régimen de Excepción – El Salvador" [What is the Regime of Exception – El Salvador]. Alianza Americas (in Spanish). 27 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2022.

[GCP-4] "Presidente Nayib Bukele Ordena Fortalecer Guerra Contra las Pandillas y Anuncia el Incremento de Presencia Policial en los Territorios" [President Nayib Bukele Orders to Strengthen the War Against Gangs and Announces Increased Police Presence in the Territories]. Government of El Salvador (in Spanish). 28 June 2022. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2022.

[5] "El Salvador Is Imprisoning People at Triple the Rate of the US". Bloomberg.com. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.

[:0-6] "Ministro de Seguridad confirma liberación de 5 mil detenidos durante el régimen de excepción". La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). 16 May 2023. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023.

[7] Renteria, Nelson (3 January 2023). "El Salvador Murders Plummet by Over Half in 2022 Amid Gang Crackdown". Reuters. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.

[FT06-8] Murray, Christine; Smith, Alan (6 March 2023). "Inside El Salvador's Mega Prison: The Jail Giving Inmates Less Space than Livestock". Financial Times. Mexico City and London. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.

[9] Linthicum, Kate (25 July 2023). "Inside the Growing Cult of El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, Latin America's Political Star". Los Angeles Times. Mexico City, Mexico. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.

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