El Salvador: Where Security Trumps Human Rights

Prisoners in custody at a Salvadoran Prison in 2022 (Wikimedia Commons) 

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador dispatched 4,000 soldiers and police officers to round up gang members in the cities of Apopa and Soyapango on October 11, 2023. This is the latest installment in Bukele’s massive gang crackdown since he called for a state of emergency in March 2022. This emergency resulted in the incarceration of over 73,000 Salvadorans for gang related offenses, making El Salvador the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. 

Such drastic measures have transformed El Salvador, once a country plagued with violence and dubbed the “murder capital” of the world, to one of the safest in Central America. At the start of Bukele’s presidency the average annual homicide rate was 5000, fast forward four years and that statistic is now 495. The recent government action of October 11 came after information surfaced that gangs were trying to regroup in the two cities, showing that Bukele does not plan on scaling back. 

In fact, quite the opposite is true. A recent police report stated that 43,000 gang affiliated individuals still roam the streets, and Bukele clearly plans to detain them. 

This past February, Bukele took to X (formerly Twitter) to pronounce, "El Salvador has managed to go from being the world’s most dangerous country, to the safest country in the Americas. How did we do it? By putting criminals in jail. Is there space? There is now." The President was referencing a new prison, the “Terrorism Confinement Center,” which currently houses 12,000 men. 

The mega prison can hold up to 40,000 prisoners, making it the largest prison in the world. 80 prisoners share the same cell and they live under rigid rules and harsh conditions. Prisoners are not provided with a pillow or blanket and are forbidden from speaking unless given permission. It is estimated that 90 percent of those incarcerated are there without a final sentence. 

Clearly, El Salvador’s transformation comes at the loss of civil liberties. The government arrests individuals without giving them the right to counsel or being informed of their charges. Prisoners are subjected to mass trials with up to 900 defendants and are frequently incarcerated for reasons as arbitrary as having a tattoo or a former police record. 

Concerns about El Salvador’s future as a democratic nation are mounting. The government’s constitution stipulates that presidents are limited to serving one term. However, Bukele announced that he will, in fact, run for reelection in the upcoming presidential election on February 4, 2024. 

Despite criticism from human rights organizations, Bukele is wildly popular in El Salvador with a 90 percent approval rating. He is an enigmatic figure whose face can be found on souvenirs and merchandise in city markets from Salvadorans grateful for the newfound ability to live without fear. 

El Salvador is now a tourist destination working to accommodate this industry with the construction of hotels, hostels, and clubs. This new market will create jobs for locals and improve the country’s overall economy. So while the President’s acts may be controversial globally, the majority of Salvadorans see Bukele’s presidency as one that brought safety and provides hope for the future.