The Problem With El Salvador's Crime Numbers

Bukele’s government has been undercounting homicides since its 2022 crackdown.
August 8, 2024, 2:38 PM

By Jeremy Giles, a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School and a former commander in the U.S. Army Special Forces.



In this image supplied by the office of the president of El Salvador, a group of 2,000 detainees are moved to a megaprison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 15, 2023. Handout/Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images



In less than a decade, El Salvador has gone from the murder capital of the world to having one of the lowest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere. President Nayib Bukele has been at the helm of this radical transformation. Since taking office, he has led one of the most aggressive anti-gang crackdowns ever seen, suspended key constitutional rights, reshaped the judiciary, eroded prosecutorial independence, and consolidated unprecedented political power in the process.

He has done all this with overwhelming support. Despite being widely criticized by Salvadoran civil society organizations and international human rights groups, he received more than 84 percent of the vote in his reelection in February, and support for his measures has polled as high as 92 percent. In Latin America, Bukele has a higher popularity rating than any leader, including the pope.

In June, Bukele was inaugurated president for an unprecedented—and, many argue, unconstitutional—second term. At his inauguration, dressed in an elegant, embroidered suit reminiscent of the military uniform worn by the country’s revered former president, Gerardo Barrios, he proclaimed, “We are now the safest country in the Western Hemisphere.” It is a line that he uses often.

. . .

Data from the Salvadoran government indeed suggests that violence has plummeted to historic lows under Bukele. A closer look at the data and methods used by his administration, however, reveals a more complicated reality of violence, state control, and repression in the country.

More:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/08/08/el-salvador-bukele-crime-homicide-prison-gangs/




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