Nearly 10,000 soldiers and police officers deployed this Saturday morning around Soyapango, on the outskirts of San Salvador, as part of the war against gangs launched in March by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
“From now on, the Soyapango commune is completely under siege. 8,500 soldiers and 1,500 agents have surrounded the city ”of 242,000 inhabitants, located east of the capital, President Bukele wrote on his Twitter account.
The president announced on November 23 that the towns would be fenced off so that the military could raid the houses one by one and arrest the gang members. Soyapango is the first city where this procedure is applied.
“Citizens have nothing to fear”
Soldiers and police have been stationed since dawn on all the access streets to the city, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving without being checked. The security forces are in charge of detaining one by one “all the gang members who are still there,” said President Bukele.
A few hours after the start of the operation, the Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro, announced that “twelve gang members have already been arrested, all with criminal records.”
Military and police vehicles roamed the streets, while drones flew over the area in search of gang members. In the municipality of Soyapango, 40 “checkpoints” were installed, said Salvadoran Defense Minister René Merino.
“We were surprised, they ask us for our identity documents to verify our house, but it’s okay, it’s for our safety,” said resident Guadalupe Pérez, 53. The police also stop the buses to check each of the passengers.
“Citizens have nothing to fear and can continue with their activities in peace, assured President Bukele. This operation is launched against criminals and not against honest citizens.
Some 58,000 people detained
The siege of cities to “remove” gang members from them is part of the security plan launched by the government. “People see that the measures that are being taken are giving results,” argued criminologist Ricardo Sosa, adding that “it is not surprising that they mainly support these operations because they themselves have suffered with the gangs.”
75.9% of Salvadorans support the state of emergency and 9 out of 10 believe that crime has dropped, according to a survey by the Central American University (UCA).
Some 58,000 alleged members of criminal gangs, the feared “maras”, have been detained in El Salvador since the proclamation at the end of March by President Bukele of the “war” against these gangs that sow terror in the country.
The issue of the influx of detainees
To cope with the influx of prisoners, the prison administration has promised to build a gigantic prison for 40,000 suspected criminals in Tecoluca, a rural region in the center of the country.
Soyapango has been considered an unsafe town for years due to the presence of gangs. However, the measures applied by the Bukele government have resulted in “a great improvement in security,” Mayor Nercy Montano said earlier this week.
Established at the end of March after a wave of 87 murders attributed to “maras”, the state of emergency allows arrests without a warrant, drawing criticism from human rights organizations. It was extended by Congress until mid-December.
Source: BFM TV
