El Salvador is once again international news for everyday reasons. In fact, President Nayib Bukele has released a new “megacaricis” for the distributers of the country, “the largest in America”, according to his words. It has a capacity for 40,000 prisoners and there are already 2,000 in it, as can be seen in a video broadcast by the president himself. Buel has taken the measure in a state of emergency, which has been taking place since March last year. During this period at least 64,000 people have been arrested. Thus, El Salvador has become the country in the world with more prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants.

Buiel discharges the Anti-Terrorist Confinement Centre to prison and opens a video in which bankers enter prison, the only access of the press to the prison, to which he has banned access. In the video you see the delivery workers only in the underwear, running from one side to the other, with their hands tied and supported each other. “This is going to be your new home, which will live decades here, mixed together, without harming the population,” said Bufel.

The new prison has been built within seven months and a plot of 116 hectares. They will cut all communication to prisoners and implement drastic measures. “The order, control and discipline of prisoners will be ensured so that they do not take illegal actions inside the prison, and so that they do not communicate with other gang members,” Bukel explains.

The emergency situation in force since March last year makes it possible for prisons to do so. In one year more than 64,000 people have been detained in the country, and at the time of arrest they have no right to know the reason for the arrest, not even for a lawyer. In addition, the period of pre-trial detention is extended from 73 to 15 days.

Human rights

Buey has stressed that the co-workers will live “mixed”. Since 2002, the members of both groups have been in separate jails to avoid possible disturbances between them. In 2020, however, in almost 20 years he first entered the prisoners of the two main bands in the same prisons.

This measure, like the current “giant” prisons, caused many anger and fears both socially and internationally in El Salvador. The El Salvador Commission on Human Rights stated in 2020 that “the mix of gangs poses a risk of significant rebellion or selective and collective killings.”

HRW Human Rights Watch has also denounced that in the exceptional situation imposed by Buel there have been “serious human rights violations”. They explain that thousands of detainees under the guise of the measure have caused “congestion” of prisoners in prisons, including children, about 1,000. A new law reduces liability for gang-related crimes to 12 years.

The institution has also reported the deaths of dozens of prisoners in prisons, especially those in Izalco and La Esperanza. These prisons exceeded prisoners three and four times, respectively.