Is El Salvador’s War on Narcos Working?

What do you think about this policy and Bukele’s prison push? It’s never a good sign when a leader has to clarify they aren’t a dictator.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin-loving president Nayib Bukele found himself needing to do a bit of clarification since his government has been pursuing an all out war against gangs in the country. “Ask whomever you want. Here in El Salvador, you can go anywhere and it’s totally safe. … Ask them what they think of El Salvador, what they think of our government, what they think of our supposed dictatorship,” he declared.

Since Bukele declared a state of emergency about the gangs last year, they have detained over 70,000 people or 1% of the country’s population for so-called gang affiliation. The legislation also increases prison time for those found to be gang leaders from 45 years to 60. Now many are jammed into prisons often without due process, rightfully worrying human rights experts.

Though crime rates are in fact going down, innocent people are being caught up in El Salvador’s mass arrests. Some estimates say as little as 1 in 3 of those people have actual ties to organized crime 34 percent of respondents said they knew someone with no gang ties who had been detained, nearly double since 2022.

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