El Salvador launches mass trial for nearly 500 accused gang leaders
San Salvador, El Salvador Reuters El Salvador on Thursday kicked off a mass trial to prosecute nearly 500 alleged leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha gang for more than 37,000 crimes committed over a decade, the Central American nation’s prosecutor’s office said. Alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang appear on a screen during a remote […]
Essay: El Salvador voters set to trade democracy for promise of security in presidential election
In an article first published on The Conversation, MNEESHA GELLMA says there is little doubt over the result of this weekend’s election…
El Salvador lawmakers repeal media crackdown, declare “war on gangs won”
San SalvadorReuters El Salvador’s Congress repealed a law on Wednesday that criminalised the publication of gang messages, as ruling party leaders declared victory in their war against criminal groups. President Nayib Bukele launched a sweeping crackdown on the small Central American nation’s hyper-violent gangs early last year, sharply reducing crime rates while the incarceration skyrocketed, […]
Rehabilitating gang members: Pastors find a role ministering to young men swept up in El Salvador’s crackdown on gangs
MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ, of Associated Press, reports on the work of churches involved in rehabilitating gang members – and the impact President Nayib Bukele’s gang crackdown has had on them…
El Salvador vows gang crackdown will go on as citizens cheer safer streets
San Salvador Reuters El Salvador’s state of emergency to combat gangs, which has widespread public support despite a growing prison population and allegations of human rights abuses, will be maintained until all criminals are captured, the country’s security minister told Reuters. Since President Nayib Bukele asked the country’s congress to approve a state of exception […]
El Salvador murders plummet by over half in 2022 amid gang crackdown
San Salvador, El SalvadorReuters Murders in El Salvador tumbled 56.8 per cent in 2022 amid a widespread crackdown on gang violence, the government said on Tuesday, extending a sharp drop in killings in a nation which for years had one of the world’s worst murder rates. Authorities registered a total of 496 homicides last year, […]
Bukele’s anti-gang push in El Salvador hammers gangster graves
San Salvador, El Salvador Reuters Salvadoran prisoners collaborating with officials smashed gangster graves with hammers and metal poles in President Nayib Bukele’s latest crackdown on violent gangs, this time aiming to prevent any would-be admirers from paying their respects. Dozens of graves in La Libertad, west of the capital San Salvador, were left in ruins […]