Salvadoran president says four years to eradicate gangs
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on Sunday that security measures implemented by his government would do away with the country’s long-running gang problem in four years.
“I believe that the blow we are going to give to this structure is a mortal blow. I do not believe that gangs as we know them now will exist in three or four years,” Bukele said at a press conference to evaluate the progress of the first phase of a security plan launched last month.
As part of the plan, Salvadoran security forces have been targeting extortion rackets run by gangs to finance their operations.
Authorities have also declared a state of emergency in 20 prisons in the country, tightening the conditions of confinement and ordering mobile phone operators to block internet and cellphone reception in prison to keep gang members from ordering killings and extortion while behind bars.
Earlier this month, the government announced the second phase of the security plan that seeks the “territorial control” of dozens of gang-riven communities while disrupting the recruitment of young people through social programs.
Comments