EL SALVADOR’S legislature yesterday extended for 30 more days a state of emergency as part of President Nayib Bukele’s “war” on gang violence.

More than 64,000 suspected gang members have been arrested since the measures, which have been renewed 11 times, were first implemented last March.

“The extension of the emergency regime is approved,” said the resolution, which passed with 67 out of 84 votes and was requested by Bukele’s government.

Congressional leader Ernesto Castro said: “The country has already changed, we are not going to take a step backwards, and it is because of those successful results that we have in the streets, where we are going to get rid of all the gangs.”

According to Bukele, around 80% of El Salvador is under the control of criminal gangs, with the state of emergency introduced last year after a wave of murders attributed to the violent groups.

Nearly 4,000 of those arrested in the sweeps so far have been released after they were found not to have committed any crime, according to Justice and Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro.

The state of emergency has been criticised by human rights groups, with particular concern expressed about the powers it grants authorities to make arrests without warrants.

Humans Rights Watch last month denounced “severe prison overcrowding” in El Salvador’s jails as a result of such arrests.

Bukele unveiled this month what he called the largest prison in the Americas, intended to hold 40,000 suspected gang members – more than doubling the country’s current total capacity of 30,000 inmates across 20 prisons.

Those held at the new “Terrorism Confinement Center” will be forced to work, according to Deputy Justice Minister Osiris Luna.

Bukele boasted on Twitter yesterday that there have been “300 days without homicides” since he took office in 2019, a figure which the government attributes to its security plan, including the state of emergency. – AFP, February 15, 2023.