Video: Nayib Bukele's cinematographic operation to move 2,000 gang members to a new mega-prison in El Salvador

With a mega-film production, the controversial president of

,

 showed the transfer of the first 2,000 of 40,000 gang members who will be confined in the Terrorism Confinement Center, a mega prison with punishment cells and factories where the president assured that They will live for decades.

"Today at dawn, in a single operation, we transferred the first 2,000 gang members to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (Cecot). This will be their new home, where they will live for decades, mixed up, without being able to do any more harm to the population," Bukele said on Twitter along with a video that showed gang members entering the prison.

The prison, located 74 kilometers from the capital in the Tecoluca municipality, San Vicente department, has 33 blocks of construction within 236 isolated blocks of the city.

It is made up of confinement pavilions with metal cabins and punishment cells, virtual courtrooms and two modules for factories against prison leisure.

The Salvadoran government transfers the first 2,000 of 40,000 gang members who will be confined in a mega prison with punishment cells.

Photo: Reuters

Two days before the transfer, an indictment by the United States Department of Justice against 13 alleged

, for multiple crimes in New York, accused the gangs of having negotiated with members of the Farabundo Martí Front government for the National Liberation (FMLN) to reduce homicides in exchange for benefits, as well as with its rival the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) and with the current government.

The notice mentions meetings organized by the Salvadoran government and officials such as the director of penal centers and the director of Tejido Social to obtain benefits in exchange for the reduction of homicides and electoral support in the 2021 legislative elections. The government did not react in this regard.

Since the beginning of the emergency regime, on March 27, 2022, until Friday,

, of whom 3,745 were later released and another 3,344 have denounced human rights violations, the majority for alleged arbitrary detentions, before the Cristosal association.

The prison has received criticism from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) for alleged violations of human rights and contradiction of standards international.

Juan Pappier, deputy director for the Americas at HRW, told AP that the United Nations' minimum rules for the treatment of inmates, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, suggest that closed prisons should not have such a large number of inmates because this it can be an obstacle to the individualization of the treatment of detainees.

They point out as a parameter that in some countries it is considered that the number of inmates in such establishments should not exceed 500. A prison complex designed to house 40,000 people would clearly be incompatible with this international standard, he opined.

The Salvadoran government transfers the first 2,000 of 40,000 gang members who will be confined in a mega prison with punishment cells.

AFP photo

In June 2022, the government projected an infrastructure with a capacity for 20,000 prisoners.

The construction of the mega prison received the support of government officials and representatives.

We won't rest until the last gang member is in jail.

Now we defend the human rights of the innocent, said the representative of the official party Rebeca Santos on Twitter.

The gang members now have what they deserve, a sentence that they must pay in a maximum security prison.

Thus, the security policy cycle continues with an important phase that will keep the streets with fewer criminals and greater security, said Deputy Giovanny Zaldaña.

The emergency regime was approved on March 27, 2022, after 62 Salvadorans were killed on March 26, and its eleventh extension is valid until March 17.

Homicides dropped from 1,211 in 2021 to 615 in 2022, according to official figures that registered a gradual drop year after year since 2016.

What is the Bukele mega prison in El Salvador like?

The mega prison was built in an isolated rural area in a valley near Tecoluca, 74 km southeast of San Salvador, and was inspected by Bukele.

The 166-hectare property has a dozen pavilions that occupy 23 hectares, explained the Minister of Public Works, Romeo Rodríguez, on a national radio and television network.

The prison has a 2.1 kilometer perimeter wall, which will be guarded day and night by 600 soldiers and 250 police officers.

Inside, security will be in charge of guards from the General Directorate of Penal Centers.

The cells are made of reinforced concrete and have thick steel bars.

The prison has its own wells to extract drinking water.

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