Giant gangster prison opens in El Salvador

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Since March, a state of emergency has been in effect in El Salvador – this is the response of the authorities to the outbreak of violence and murders committed by gangs. Tens of thousands of people suspected of involvement in gangster groups were detained as a result of numerous police special operations, Reuters writes. The first two thousand prisoners have already arrived at the place of serving their sentence.

Before being taken to the cell, the prisoners are left to sit on the floor with their hands clasped behind their shaven heads.

President Bukele tweeted video of the prisoners being taken to prison, accompanied by the caption: “Today at dawn, in one run, we transferred 2,000 gang members to the Center for Combating Terrorism. Here will be their new home, where they will live for decades, all mixed up, unable to harm the population anymore.

Hoy en la madrugada, en un solo operativo, trasladamos a los primeros 2,000 pandilleros al Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT).

Esta será su nueva casa, donde vivirán por décadas, mezclados, sin poder hacerle más daño a la población.

Seguimos…#GuerraContraPandillas pic.twitter.com/9VvsUBvoHC

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 24, 2023

A new prison for gangsters has been built in an isolated place in the municipality of Tekoluk, 74 kilometers from the country's capital. It is the largest facility of its kind in Latin America and is equipped with the latest technology to prevent escapes.

The prison consists of eight buildings, each with 32 huge cells of about 100 square meters, which contain more than a hundred prisoners . Each cell has only two washbasins and two toilets.

The emergency measures taken by the President of El Salvador are seen by many as controversial as they limit some of the constitutional rights of citizens. In particular, the security forces were allowed to arrest suspects without waiting for a warrant.

During the anti-gangster war, the Salvadoran authorities detained more than 64,000 people. Human rights activists point out that innocent citizens also suffered, but the president's policy against bandits is popular among the people of El Salvador.

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