El Salvador: State of emergency declared after 76 gang-related killings in just two days

President Nayib Bukele was elected on a promise to be tougher on crime, but gangs now effectively control El Salvador's capital.

Sunday 27 March 2022 22:01, UK

A patrol of officers of the National Civil Police guard the streets of the historic center in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, March 27, 2022.The government of President Bukele authorized the Suspension of Rights and Freedoms in a decree approved by the Legislative Assembly to neutralize criminal groups related to the killings. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez).
Image: Police guard the streets of the historic centre in San Salvador
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A state of emergency has been declared in El Salvador after 76 gang-related killings in just two days.

A total of 14 people were killed on Friday and 62 on Saturday in a wave of violence unseen for years, which has effectively left street gangs controlling many neighbourhoods in the capital, San Salvador.

The national police believed the murders were the work of some of the country's notorious street gangs, and have arrested five leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13.

The Central American country's congress approved President Nayib Bukele's request for state of emergency status on Sunday.

The decree would suspend constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly and loosen arrest rules for as much as 30 days, but could be extended.

While Mr Bukele has tried to project a tough attitude on crime, the country's enormously powerful street gangs have proved a double-edged sword for him.

Read more: El Salvador authorises 'lethal force' in gang crackdown

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El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, attends the first stone laying ceremony of the new National Library, financed by China, in San Salvador
Image: El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, says he is tough on crime

A report in December compiled by the US Treasury Department claimed Mr Bukele's government had secretly negotiated a truce with leaders of some gangs - a claim he denied and which raised tensions between the two nations.

The report alleges Mr Bukele's government bought the gangs' support with financial benefits and privileges for their imprisoned leaders, including prostitutes and mobile phones.

As a result, the US Agency for International Development announced it would shift aid from government agencies in El Salvador to non-governmental organisations.

A view shows members of El Salvador deputies during an extraordinary session of Congress where the Assembly issued the exceptional regime, after the crime wave that left a high number of people murdered in the last two days in the country, in San Salvador, El Salvador, March 27, 2022. REUTERS/Jessica Orellana
Image: The extraordinary session of Congress where the Assembly issued the state of emergency

The explosive accusations cut to the heart of one of Mr Bukele's most highly-touted successes in office: a plunge in the country's homicide rate.

However, Mr Bukele still enjoys extremely high popularity. He stepped into a political vacuum left by discredited traditional parties from the left and right, and made headlines last year with his pledge to build a "Bitcoin City" at the base of a volcano.

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