El Salvador's Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (March 16th) again extended the state of emergency for a month to maintain President Nayib Bukele's "
war
" against violent gangs, which has already led to nearly 66,000 arrests.
This extension, approved by 67 of the 84 deputies of the unicameral congress, is the twelfth since the entry into force of this exceptional regime in March 2022. “With
67 votes in favor, the initiative of the President of the Republic was approved by the Council of Ministers to extend the emergency regime throughout the national territory for a period of 30 days
,” said the President of the Legislative Assembly, Ernesto Castro.
Read alsoIn El Salvador, the relentless fight against the maras
65,795 arrests
The “
government-led war against gangs has allowed the Salvadoran population to feel a sense of security, as surveys show
,” the legislative decree said.
According to official figures, this "
war
" against violent gangs has already led to 65,795 arrests, and 2,513 firearms have been seized.
The state of emergency, which has drawn criticism from human rights organisations, allows arrests without warrants.
It was established after a wave of 87 assassinations attributed to the "
maras
", gangs that spread terror in El Salvador and neighboring countries.
At the beginning of February, the government inaugurated a gigantic penitentiary in the south-east of the country, on the outskirts of the city of Tecoluca, where 40,000 suspected members of these gangs will be detained.
A contingent of 2,000 suspected gangsters was transferred earlier Wednesday to this establishment equipped with high-tech surveillance, after an initial group of 2,000 detainees at the end of February.
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