Al Jazeera: 'El Salvador declares state of emergency after gang killings.

[abqtommy]

The measures come after 62 homicides were reported on Saturday, making it the most violent day in nearly 30 years.'

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/28/el-salvador-invokes-state-of-emergency-after-62-killings-in-a-day

[El Salvador’s parliament has approved the state of emergency that temporarily suspended some constitutional protections in the Central American country following a wave of killings attributed to criminal gangs.

snip

“We approve the exceptional regime, which will allow our government to protect the lives of Salvadorans and confront criminality head-on,” said Ernesto Castro, the congress’s president, said after an extraordinary session early on Sunday.

The country registered 1,140 murders in 2021 – an average of 18 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, but still considerably lower since the end of the civil war in 1992.

In 2015, El Salvador, home to some 6.5 million people, recorded a rate of 103 homicides for every 100,000 people, one of the highest in the world.]

There's more text and photos at the link.

[raccoon]

1. I wouldn't be caught dead in El Salvador. NT

[Eugene]

2. El Salvador grabs 1,000 gang suspects, cuts food for inmates

Source: Associated Press

El Salvador grabs 1,000 gang suspects, cuts food for inmates

March 28, 2022

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The government of El Salvador said Monday it has arrested more than 1,000 gang suspects after a wave of killings over the weekend.

President Nayib Bukele ordered food for gang members held in Salvadoran prisons be reduced to two meals per day, seized inmates’ mattresses and posted a video of prisoners being frog-marched through corridors and down stairs.

The government declared a state of emergency and locked down prisons after 87 murders were committed Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Authorities have blamed the killings on gang members, and on Monday authorities said soldiers and police had raided gang strongholds around San Salvador.

Bukele wrote that those detained would not be released. His order that food for gang inmates be cut apparently was aimed at stretching current food supplies to feed the new detainees as well.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/prisons-arrests-nayib-bukele-el-salvador-san-salvador-d7381967e2c1ee6002e9808175c1d341