El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The Central American nation of El Salvador marked a full year Monday under anti-gang emergency measures that were originally supposed to last only a month.

It was the the first anniversary of President Nayib Bukele’s request for special powers to pursue gangs last March 27, following a surge in gang violence in which 62 people were killed in a single day.

The country’s legislature has voted every month since then to renew the measures, which suspend some rights.

SAN SALVADOR, March 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Thousands of alleged gang members in El Salvador, 60 percent of nearly 65,000, will never return to the streets, the Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro said.    

Sixty percent of those arrested under the exception regime will be sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), the minister reported, who said that they will ensure that those who arrive at these facilities will not leave again.

SAN SALVADOR, Feb 24 (Reuters) - El Salvador's government moved thousands of suspected gang members to a newly opened "mega prison" on Friday, the latest step in a controversial crackdown on crime that has caused the Central American nation's prison population to soar.

"This will be their new home, where they won't be able to do any more harm to the population," President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter.

Around 2,000 accused gang members were moved to the 40,000-person-capacity prison, considered to be the largest in the Americas, early Friday morning.

SAN SALVADOR, Jan 29 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The security policies implemented by the government of El Salvador are maintaining the trend to reduce the number of homicides, authorities said.    

El Salvador reported 18 days without homicides in January 2023, due to the implementation of the Territorial Control Plan (PCT), which in its fifth phase allowed, with the support of the state of emergency, encircling several municipalities and conflictive communities with a high incidence of gangs.

SAN SALVADOR, Dec 3 (Reuters) - El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced Saturday the deployment of 10,000 security forces to a suburb of San Salvador known to be a stronghold for gangs.

The move is the latest escalation in a crusade against gang violence that began in March, which human rights groups say has been marred by unjustified detentions.

SAN SAALVADOR, Oct 31 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The fight against gangs in El Salvador took center stage this week after the announcement that 56,190 of its members or alleged collaborators are already behind bars.    

The issue occupies space in the political and media that keep a strict count of the deaths that occur and that are attributable to the gangs.

October is about to become the safest month in recent years with more than 20 days without deaths due to gang actions, according to authorities.

SAN SALVADOR, June 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Friday asked authorities in El Salvador to "immediately" extradite leaders of the international criminal gang MS-13 to be put on trial in the United States.

The request is the latest chapter in Washington's increasingly complicated relationship with the government of President Nayib Bukele.

SAN SALVADOR, Feb 20 (Reuters) - El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on Sunday said he will send Congress a proposal to grant citizenship to foreigners who invest in the Central American country as well as other initiatives to reduce government hurdles in order to attract investment projects.

Bukele did not specify whether the bills would be aimed exclusively at bitcoin-linked entrepreneurs, but during the week he referred to El Salvador as "the land of #Bitcoin freedom."

SAN SALVADOR, Dec 28 (Reuters) - A former senior Salvadoran anti-corruption prosecutor said President Nayib Bukele’s government shut down his unit’s investigation into its alleged negotiations with violent street gangs to help expand its power, as the United States steps up pressure on the Central American country over those talks.

MIZATA, El Salvador, Nov 20 (Reuters) - El Salvador plans to build the world's first "Bitcoin City", funded initially by bitcoin-backed bonds, President Nayib Bukele said on Saturday, doubling down on his bet to harness the crypto currency to fuel investment in the Central American country.

Speaking at an event closing a week-long promotion of bitcoin in El Salvador, Bukele said the city planned in the eastern region of La Union would get geothermal power from a volcano and not levy any taxes except for value added tax (VAT).