By Marcos Alemán - The Associated Press
SAN SALVADOR - El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele denied on Friday a report that
his government has been negotiating with one of the most powerful gangs in the country to reduce the murder rate
ahead of the midterm elections to change of privileges in prison.
The signal is delicate in the Central American nation, where
gangs have terrorized people with extortion and murder for years.
Several former officials from previous governments are currently being prosecuted for allegedly participating in similar deals with these criminal organizations.
Attorney General Raúl Melara, whose office is independent from the presidency, said in an interview with a local television program that his office will investigate the versions reported by the online outlet El Faro.
They will investigate the Government of Bukele for alleged negotiations with the Mara Salvatrucha
Sept.
5, 202000: 32
["We are trying to live together": this is the truce of rival gangs mixed in the prisons of El Salvador]
El Faro reported on Friday that it had obtained a batch of government documents, including prison records and intelligence reports,
showing that various government officials have held negotiations with members of the MS-13 gang since June 2019
.
Bukele responded with a series of denials from her Twitter account.
"What El Faro publishes is the confirmation, already with official documents, of what we have been denouncing since last year, that there were indications of negotiations with the gangs," Jannette Aguilar, an academic specialist in crime issues, told The Associated Press. security and violence.
For his part, Juan Carlos Fernández Saca, dean of the graduate school at Matías Delgado University, told the AP that “if the El Faro investigation turns out to be true, it
would be a severe blow to the government's strategy that has been based on in showing the population that they have no truce with the gangs
and that they are implementing a series of shock measures against them.
The Government of El Salvador opens the doors of the prisons to the press after being accused of negotiating with the MS-13 gang
Sept.
5, 202000: 41
["They'll be inside, in the dark, with their friends from the other gang": Bukele applies a heavy hand against jailed gang members]
Meanwhile, the director of Reconstruction of the Social Fabric, Carlos Marroquín, who appears involved in the alleged negotiations with the gangs, tried to diminish the credibility of the publication of El Faro, which he described as a “pamphlet”.
“They did not present photos, there are no videos, there are no audios, there is no real evidence. Everything they have written and are saying is an assumption, "he
said.
If true, the allegations would be a serious blow to Bukele, who campaigned promising to be a president attached to law and order and who has tried to reinforce that image through harsh words and actions during his tenure.
In response to what happened, the director general of Penal Centers, Osiris Luna, summoned various media outlets to inspect the situation in three security penal centers that house gang members who have been confined since April.
The AP team that had access to all areas of the Quezaltepeque prison, 25 kilometers northwest of the capital, spoke with gang members from different factions.
Crammed into small cells, they approached the bars to speak with journalists.
[What is the secret of Bukele's success? Strong hand and repression, according to experts]
“
Here we are the southerners, the revolutionaries (from the Barrio 18 gang), and the letters (Mara Salvatrucha MS), here we are living together calmly, without any mishap
, but we have time to be alone with a uniform, not to know about visitors, of suffering from diseases, but we are calm, "said one of the prisoners while others tried to reach the bars.
They all looked covered with tattoos of their respective gangs.
The gang members confirmed that several of their companions were transferred to isolated areas and that they have no longer had communication with them.
Luna, the general director of prisons, denied the version of the digital newspaper and reiterated that gang members will not have privileges in prisons:
“We want to make it clear, with the State no one is going to negotiate, we are going to enforce the law We are not going to negotiate with criminal terrorist groups ”
.
Shortly afterwards, President Bukele published a tweet congratulating Luna and reiterated that journalists have access to prisons “with unrestricted access to all areas, that they randomly interview the inmates they want and that they ask whatever they want.
That there is not an iota of credibility of that planfeto (El Faro) ”.
In April, after several days of street violence in which more than 60 people were killed,
Bukele ordered members of rival gangs to be mixed in cells, ordered the installation of metal sheets to seal cells and prevent prisoners from being able to communicate with people. outside
and distributed photographs of gang members in their underpants and forced to sit astride on the ground, one behind the other.
Bukele won the 2019 election as an independent candidate from the two historically dominant parties, although he rose through the ranks of one of them.
During his first year in office, he gained recognition as El Salvador's notoriously high homicide rate began to drop.
In 2012, the government of President Mauricio Funes reportedly reached a similar agreement with the gangs.
In July this year, a court ordered the house arrest of retired General David Munguía Payes, who had served as defense minister during that government and allegedly participated in the negotiations.
Funes, who fled to Nicaragua and received asylum there, has denied negotiating with the gangs.