In early December, El Salvador stationed 10,000 army troops around Soyapango, a city of 290,000 about eight miles west of the capital of San Salvador—and a hub for gang activity. The goal was to make sure no gang member escaped—all roads into the city were blocked, and officers stopped anyone attempting to leave and checked identity papers.
On March 26, 2022, two gangs, MS-13 and Barrio 18, killed 62 people in one day to assert their authority and send the government a message to stay out of their business. These gangs have an estimated 70,000 members and have extorted money from businesses and people for decades. They control large swaths of the country. In response to the killings, President Nayib Bukele ordered a military campaign against them. Bukele received emergency authorization from El Salvador’s congress, which he used to suspend certain constitution rights such as the need for an arrest warrant, the right of association, and the right to a lawyer. Telephone and mail of any suspected gang member can be intercepted, and a person can be held for 15 days without charge instead of three. Over 61,000 people have been arrested, but at a cost of an estimated 1,000 human rights violations and 90 prison deaths. Human rights groups have deplored the mass roundups for unfairly targeting men of a certain age and appearance.
In my research, a maxim that emerged was that a chiefdom (e.g., a gang) cannot defeat a nation-state unless the nation-state government is dysfunctional. El Salvador has finally proven functional by applying rule-of-law to award power to a central authority, for a limited time, to solve an existential problem. While this approach has risks, after years of unchecked murder, it appears to be one worth taking. However, El Salvador will still have to build institutions that can prevent the gangs from re-emerging after the state-of-emergency has been lifted.
El Salvador extended the emergency authorization for another 30 days in mid-January—the 10th extension. However, murders plummeted 57% last year (496 v. 1,147 in 2021) and the campaign is overwhelmingly supported by the people, who give Bukele a 90% approval rating. The people also believe the risk is worth taking.
Source:
“Search for Gangs Seals Off Town,” Associated Press, 12/4/2022; see https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-nayib-bukele-el-salvador-san-gangs-2a8c89e3c9ffd5180e1a02b683a08c65
“El Salvador Renews State of Emergency as Gang Crackdown Continues,” Al Jazeera, 12 January 2023; accessed from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/12/el-salvador-renews-state-of-emergency-as-gang-crackdown-continues#:~:text=El%20Salvador’s%20legislature%20has%20extended,tens%20of%20thousands%20of%20people
“El Salvador Murders Plummet by Over Half in 2022 Amid Gang Crackdown,” Reuters, 3 January, 2023; accessed from https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-murders-plummet-by-over-half-2022-amid-gang-crackdown-2023-01-03/#:~:text=SAN%20SALVADOR%2C%20Jan%203%20(Reuters,the%20world’s%20worst%20murder%20rates.
Marcos Aleman, “In El Salvador, a Tough Anti-gang Crackdown Proves Popular,” AP, 27 December 2022; accessed from https://apnews.com/article/crime-nayib-bukele-organized-san-salvador-human-rights-72e1b8f58bddbc2098d9b940fb2049ca
Matt Murphy, “El Salvador: Thousands of Troops Surround City in Gang Crackdown,” BBC, 4 December 2022; accessed https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63846159
Photo: Anadolu Agency, Getty Images
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