Nayeb Bukhel’s Security Strategy: From a Strong Arm Against Crime to a Warning for Attacks on Democracy in El Salvador

“It’s clear who’s in control here”. He President of Salvador, Naeeb Bukhele, began this term in February 2020 by taking the chair of the legislature, after entering the compound with dozens of members of the military and national police after Congress refused to approve a loan to finance the third phase. Its territorial control scheme. Three years later, the president boasts of using “The most successful state policy in terms of security”It seems to have turned the world’s most insecure country into a landscape with almost zero murder records. But at the cost of violations of democracy regarding human rights defenders.

“Since his inauguration, The President himself is dedicated to undermining the rule of law. It is against judicial independence, against the separation of powers,” he told LA NACION. Tamara Tarasyuk, Americas director of Human Rights Watch (HRW). “Today in El Salvador There is no independent government agency that can act as a brake or counterweight to abuses of executive power.”.

Pictures of the exchange 2000 gang members To Counter-Terrorism Center (SEGOD) -The A mega prison with a capacity to house 40,000 inmates According to Salvadoran officials, it could be considered the largest in the region — prompting praise from officials and leaders of various Latin American governments. Guatemalan presidential candidate Suri Ríos described Bugel’s strategy as a “reference model.”

There were echoes even in Argentina. One of those who spoke in this regard was the Defense Minister of the Province of Buenos Aires. Sergio BerniHe said Friday in an interview that Bukhel’s prison model “Music to my ears”.

Since the Bukhel government (41 years old) who won in 2019 with 53% of the votes Heavy policy More than three decades to try to solve Violence from maras and gangsThe The Central American country has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with 37.1 homicides per 100,000 people in 2019, a rate of 1.8 “lowest in all of the Americas.”The President announced Millennium On Twitter, she reveals her biggest influencers.

Official information reveals that 496 murders were recorded in the country in 2022, 57% less than the number of murders recorded in 2021.And for days the National Police celebrated the zero records of murders on social networks.

But the war on gangs has been in place for nearly a year under emergency rule what Curbing freedom of association and assemblyThe Privacy in communications, the right to be properly informed of a person’s arrest, as well as the requirement that detainees be brought before a judge within 72 hours of their arrest. Nuevas Ideas, the pro-government majority that will dominate the legislature from 2021, expands the measure every month, to the extent that human rights defenders insist. “The exception has become the norm”.

The UN Committee Against Torture made the revelation in December last year “Deeply concerned about the serious consequences in terms of human rights presented by the measures adopted by the authorities within the framework of the emergency regime” In El Salvador.

“Citizenship cannot be subject to due processThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights also says the same. A government that does not conform to or legitimize what the international community says must reach a point. It’s serious,” Ana María Méndez Tartan, director of Central America for the Washington Office of Latin American Affairs (WOLA), told LA NACION. “The same exception falls on regime opponents. Journalists are accused of espionage.”he added.

At least 64,000 gang members, including more than 1,600 minors, have been jailed.Ruth López, head of anti-corruption and justice law at the Salvadoran human rights organization Cristóbal, told LA NACION that “there are not a certain number of people who are actually gang members.” “The information cannot be verified in any way other than the reports of the authorities,” he added.

With the number of catches under the exception regime, El Salvador reached the highest per capita prison population in the worldThe World Prison Briefing Report by Birkbeck College, University of London and The Overcrowding has increased by 106%.

A recent report on the Democracy Index Economist He warned of a sudden drop in the country’s democratic standards, the second largest in the region after Haiti.

HRW Y Cristobal Documented including widespread human rights abuses Arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, violations of due process, torture and ill-treatment in prison. After a while their complaints were upheld Database leak El Salvador’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security lists the names of thousands of defendants, including hundreds of minors, accused of broadly defined crimes.

“There is a systemic problem with the image of the collaborator. There are many caring collaborators, from extortionists to relatives who have benefited from favors. But to what extent can a shop owner who gives liquor to a gang member knowing his life is in danger be considered a collaborator? Gray area”, Ticiano Breda, a researcher at the Latin American Affairs, International Politics and Institute of International Affairs, exemplifies LA NACION.

Breda highlights the fact that Pugel’s punitive populism is not new, as the “Iron Hand” and “Super Iron Hand” policies were used in El Salvador under the governments of Francisco Flores (1999-2004) and Antonio Saca (2004-2009). ), neither was successful. Although the presence of gangs on Salvadoran streets has been withdrawn “due to a severe and unprecedented blow in terms of actions and arrests”, the expert assures that it is precisely the control Buchel exerts on the powers of the state that produces the results. Immediately.

In its first session after winning the legislative majority in the 2021 elections, the party affiliated with Bukhel Nuwas Ideas ended up with judicial independence. All Supreme Court judges should be removed, which caused an international sensation. A few months later, the president formalized a controversial reform that dismissed all judges over the age of sixty, including demanding that a magistrate be investigated for corruption.

“Concentration of power worrisome: Legislature, Agency for Access to Public Information, Judiciary. Little is known about what they actually do. There is no transparency and the government is not accountable”, noted Mendez Darton.

El Salvador’s government faces many corruption charges. In February, the US Department of Justice Reveals Deals Between Officials and Leaders of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) To reduce the number of public executions in exchange for less restrictive prison conditions, the early release of some leaders and the refusal to extradite prisoners to the United States.

Although the deaths appeared to be decreasing, “in fact, MS-13 leaders continued to authorize killings in which the bodies of the victims were buried or hidden,” the report describes. Accusation. Additionally, officials from the Bugel administration, the Deputy Minister of Justice and the Director General of Prisons, Osiris Luna Mesa, were included. US Treasury Department Blacklist“Secret Negotiations with a Criminal Organization.”

Thanks to the reform promoted by the ruling party of the Public Acquisition and Procurement Act, Mendez Tartan highlighted that “there is no longer a way to verify how public funds have been used”.

In the face of criticism, Bukhel responded this week with an act in which he celebrated the work of the security forces. “We have 95% of Salvadorans support. Show me a security plan anywhere in the world that has more than 95% public support I order that we stop doing this and copy this. Of course they have nothing”, he outlined.

According to the latest CID Gallup public opinion poll, Bukhel’s favorable opinion is high in the region, With 92% approval, the highest level of popularity supports the president’s potential re-election. Although the country’s constitution prohibits it, the constitutional chamber of the court – in alliance with the ruling party – encourages it. Same way, Tuesday Penalty reform came into effect, making it punishable by up to 20 years in prison for obstructing a presidential candidacy.

Likewise, CID Gallup found that only 4% of Salvadorans consider corruption a fundamental problem in the country. “cost [de la estrategia de seguridad] It doesn’t resonate with the public because it’s not tangible in people’s daily lives, and that’s a big challenge.”Analyzed by Méndez Dardón.

“We are talking about a community that is very tired of the damage caused by gangs. A society that has no time to heal the wounds of internal armed conflict. So it is understandable that there is a desire for drastic measures in the sense that eye to eye is the only way to solve this problem”, reflected Breda.

Analysts agree that this strategy may fail in the medium and long term. The origin of gangs in Central America is intertwined with the gang culture of the United States in the 70s and 80s, in groups of young people who escaped social marginalization. Rooted in local communities, they have been able to make changes over the years.

“A heavy hand, by its very nature, does not have long-term effects. In an electoral context, it has a symbolic element, which gives a sense of taking strong actions”, Sonja Wolf explained to LA NACION, Researcher and author of “Mano Dura: The Politics of Gang Control in El Salvador.”

“In this administration we are seeing more emphasis on government advertisements to believe that the activities will be effective. Yet Any society should adopt a comprehensive policy to solve the gang problem: A policy of oppression is always heavy-handed, but it must be Social reintegration. Gang violence can only be curbed by focusing on the membership and backgrounds of these groups,” he added.