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El Salvador has long been considered the most dangerous country in the world. The murder rate in the small Central American state is higher than anywhere else. Gang crime is particularly problematic – the government of President Nayib Bukele declared war on it a year ago. Since then, about 60,000 suspected gang members have been arrested.

To ensure their shelter, Bukele, who has often shown his penchant for gigantic projects, decided to have a huge prison built, which opened at the end of January. The “Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo”, abbreviated CECOT, will house up to 40,000 prisoners.

The transfer of the prisoners

Last weekend, the first approximately 2,000 inmates were transferred to the newly opened facility near the small rural community of Tecoluca. President Bukele himself posted a video of the arrival of the convicts on Twitter. This has been elaborately staged and is intended to convey to the public and the world the consistency and radicalism with which the Salvadoran government intends to combat gang crime.

The video shows how uniformed men, wearing only white trousers, arrive at the prison and have to kneel in a row with their hands above their heads. The inmates have tattoos, many of them from the infamous “Mara Salvatrucha”, MS-13 for short, which originated in El Salvador and is now one of the most notorious criminal organizations in the world. The “maras” earn their money from drug and arms trafficking, prostitution, car smuggling and human trafficking.

The offensive against gang crime

In 2019, President Bukele’s administration presented a multi-step plan to curb gang crime and the power of the maras. Since last March you have been in phase number 5, in which arrests are carried out on a large scale, the NZZ writes. Since then, a total of more than 60,000 suspected gang members have been arrested.

According to President Bukele, a large-scale military intervention against the gangs is the only way El Salvador can tackle the gang problem. Bukele claims the offensive has turned what was once the most dangerous country into the safest in all of Latin America. According to official figures, the number of murders has fallen from over 6,000 in 2015 to currently below 500. However, the number has been falling for years before Bukele took office and not just since the major offensive against gang crime.

The criticism and the concerns

The actions of the Salvadoran government have long been the subject of much criticism, in particular from human rights organisations. This is also the case in the current case of the transfer of detainees. A few allegations:

Although Bukele’s government cracks down on human rights in El Salvador, it still appears to enjoy strong popular support. According to the NZZ, his popularity rating fluctuates between 85 and 90 percent. The inhabitants of the Central American country have suffered for years from the gang’s mass violence – and are also apparently willing to accept restrictions on basic rights to appease the situation.