World

El Salvador’s Bukele scales up anti-gang push with new deployments

2022.11.23 22:39



© 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.



Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 98,358.35 0.17%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,419.44 0.99%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.06%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 255.81 1.25%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 682.91 1.46%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.45 6.95%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.434184 5.08%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999712 0.03%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.07 2.96%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,415.93 1.05%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.216841 3.28%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.57976 32.58%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 42.01 1.78%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.39 13.27%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000027 0.01%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,051.00 1.37%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 97,899.23 0.43%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 9.06 17.81%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.68 3.45%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 511.38 3.65%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,418.85 0.45%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.45 4.37%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000021 4.18%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.61 4.33%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.68 1.08%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 101.19 0.53%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.86 0.67%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 11.16 5.13%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,602.79 1.15%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.15123 1.36%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.62 3.73%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.196582 2.97%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.11%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.577148 5.68%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 29.90 0.22%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 8.08 1.44%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.56 15.47%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 538.05 1.33%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.15409 4.54%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.02%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.880108 4.13%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.043829 3.83%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.74 0.62%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 9.09 14.45%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000047 6.28%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.82 13.71%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999818 0.04%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.80 0.24%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 55.96 9.67%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 3.26 3.66%