After years of crime-ridden streets, gang violence, and crime epidemics to which the previous administration showed little mercy, President Nayib Bukele is taking a hard line approach to put an end to MS-13 in El Salvador.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador is not shying away from crime or gang violence in his country, taking a no mercy approach with those who choose to commit crime.
Western Journal reports, when it comes to gang violence, El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele isn’t playing games.
A video shared on Bukele’s Twitter account on Friday showed off a new prison that will cater to hardened gang members.
2,000 detainees were transferred from other jails and prisons to El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism, a new prison for gang members.
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It is also reported that the prison will eventually have a capacity of 40,000 inmates.
The prison would dwarf the current record-holder of Silivri Penitentiaries Campus in Turkey if it can hold its intended capacity.
El Salvador has been struggling with increasing gang violence for years.
Fox news reports, as part of his “state of exception,” Bukale empowered his government to crack down on gang members by loosening the country’s arrest laws, such as no longer requiring warrants for arrests and granting the government access to citizens’ communications.
After three days of violence that left 87 people dead, he pushed through the new measure. According to Bukele, MS-13 was responsible for the violence, and the authorities had captured the leaders of MS-13 who had ordered the killings during the statewide sweep.
MS-13 has been connected to dozens of murders in the New York metro area and Long Island over the past decade, with terrorism charges announced against 14 of the gang’s leaders in 2021.
More than 46,000 arrests of alleged gang members were made as a result of El Salvador’s congress extending the state of exception several times. By the end of the year, the number of alleged collaborators had risen to over 62,000.
President Nayib Bukele has had enough of crime ridden streets and gang violence in El Salvador. In an effort to combat crime and ensure public safety, he has declared a “war on dr*gs” with no mercy. On Friday, President Bukele showcased his brutal solution by transferring 2,000 detainees from other jails and prisons to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism: a new facility intended to house hardened gang members. The prisoners—many bearing tattoos of staggering gang imagery—were seen shuffling in handcuffs towards their new residence in a video posted to the President’s official Twitter account. This bold move marks a huge milestone for national reform and crime prevention, but also raises questions about its effectiveness and whether crime prevention will offset human rights violations.
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