Police have announced that they have recorded 62 homicides in El Salvador on Saturday March 26 alone, attributed to gangs. The country’s parliament is considering declaring a state of emergency in the face of rising violence.
” This Saturday March 26 ended with 62 homicides in the country “, announced the national civil police on Twitter. ” We will not back down in this war on gangs, we will not stop capturing and bringing to justice the criminals responsible for these acts “, she added.
El Salvador’s police and army on Saturday launched an operation against the Mara Salvatrucha, one of the country’s most dangerous gangs. Several leaders of the gang have been arrested and are accused of being ” responsible for the homicides recorded in recent hours “, said the police.
Declaration of the state of emergency
In response to this wave of violence, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Saturday urged parliament – dominated by his party – to declare a state of emergency. According to the Salvadoran Constitution, a state of emergency can be put in place “ in the event of war, invasion of territory, rebellion, sedition, catastrophe, epidemic or other general calamity, or serious disturbances of public order “.
” Since yesterday we have seen a new rebound in homicides, something we have been working so hard against. While fighting the criminals in the street, we try to decipher what is happening and who is behind and finances all this Nayib Bukele, who called a crisis meeting of security officials, said in a statement.
The head of state asked the prosecutor’s office to deal with the same ” efficiency » all cases of gang members, warning that he would keep an eye on « judges who favor criminals “. The Mara Salvatrucha, Barrio 18 and other gangs living primarily on drug trafficking and extortion have a total of about 70,000 members in El Salvador, of whom more than 17,000 are incarcerated, according to authorities. El Salvador recorded 1,140 homicides in 2021 – or 18 per 100,000 inhabitants – the lowest figure since the end of the civil war in 1992.
(With AFP)