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San SalvadorReuters El Salvador’s Congress repealed a law on Wednesday that criminalised the publication of gang messages, as ruling party leaders declared victory in their war against criminal groups.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, […]
Snapshot: Looking across Los Planes de Renderos, El Salvador
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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 court sentences ex-President Funes to 14 years in prison
San Salvador, El SalvadorReuters A court in El Salvador sentenced former President Mauricio Funes and his justice minister to more than a decade behind bars for their ties to criminal groups and failure to comply with duties, the Attorney General’s office said on Monday. Funes was sentenced to 14 years and his former justice and […]
At least 12 dead in stampede at El Salvador stadium
San SalvadorReuters At least 12 people died and an unspecified number were injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium in El Salvador on Saturday, the Central American country’s government said. Alianza FC and Club Deportivo FAS were playing the second leg of their playoff quarter-final game at the Cuscatlan stadium in San Salvador, the […]
El Salvador deploys 10,000 troops to gang-run capital suburb
San Salvador Reuters El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced Saturday the deployment of 10,000 security forces to a suburb of San Salvador known to be a stronghold for gangs. The move is the latest escalation in a crusade against gang violence that began in March, which human rights groups say has been marred by unjustified […]
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 […]
Snapshot: Los Planes de Renderos, San Salvador, El Salvador
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El Salvador making it harder for murderous gangs to spread messages
San Salvador, El Salvador Reuters Waging a campaign against gangs responsible for El Salvador having one of the world’s highest murder rates, Congress in the Central American republic passed a bill on Tuesday criminalising the publication of gang messages, including by news outlets. Last month, President Nayib Bukele invoked emergency powers to suspend some constitutional […]
Priest, a seminary rector, slain in El Salvador
San Salvador, El SalvadorAP A Roman Catholic priest has been shot to death along a road in El Salvador and church authorities on Saturday called for investigation of the slaying. The church celebrated a Mass on Saturday for Rev Ricardo Antonio Cortez, who was rector at the seminary named for recently canonized Oscar Arnulfo Romero […]