Where do you put thousands of arrested gang members?
They have just passed the 10,000 arrest mark back on Monday. What a lot of people here need to understand are a few things in regards to El Salvador past to get a better picture of how it came to this.
First- Ever since the gangs first started to appear in the country after being deported from U.S in the 90s the previous government administrations we're very soft handed in tackling the situation which led to "talks and truces" as an attempt to bring down the violence but did little else in actually stopping the escalating crime rate.
Second- The population of El Salvador that had been basically taken hostage by the gangs were forced the fend for themselves with very little support from the authorities since many at the local level were corrupt. Not to mention those in higher office who had clear ties to organized crime of money fraud, and stole meant to help the population. The last four presidents all embezzled money, one died before being formally tried, one is currently in prison for the same crime and the last two fled to Nicaragua. There have also been several former representative who have fled outside of El Salvador and are currently wanted for questioning.
Third- Those people who were unfortunate to live inside a hot zone of gang activities were give no support since the local police would not even venture into these neighborhoods, not only that but if you were wanting to start a business or simply walk to your home or visit a friend the gang member would charge you a "rent" for being in "their" territory. This added to an already impoverished population and many businesses owners forced to close up shop and many others fled the country for fear of them and their families being executed. This was also the problem for many teenagers that were also constantly harassed into joining, the were given the choice to either join or die along with their family members.
In conclusion, the people of El Salvador who have had to deal with these criminals for the las 30 years, who have lost family members, their livelihoods uprooted, and general fear of falling victim yet again to a group of criminals that kill indiscriminately for any reason they wish are more than happy to see done what they consider is long over due on the government's part in handling this crime epidemic. Sorry for the long essay here but I felt some clarification was required to understand were the people of El Salvador are coming from.
Forgot to mention that the new government laws will punish any gang member for 20 to 45 years depending on what role they played in the criminal organization. Also any collaborators with the gangs will get anywhere around 15 years. As for innocent people being rounded up as "gang" members, practical all have gang tattoos which make them rather easy to spot (notice how many are pictured shirtless in the arrest photos) not only that a lot of them have outstanding arrest warrants and also the local populace are helping the police identify and turn in gang members.
https://search.brave.com/search?q=el+salvador...ce=desktop
They have just passed the 10,000 arrest mark back on Monday. What a lot of people here need to understand are a few things in regards to El Salvador past to get a better picture of how it came to this.
First- Ever since the gangs first started to appear in the country after being deported from U.S in the 90s the previous government administrations we're very soft handed in tackling the situation which led to "talks and truces" as an attempt to bring down the violence but did little else in actually stopping the escalating crime rate.
Second- The population of El Salvador that had been basically taken hostage by the gangs were forced the fend for themselves with very little support from the authorities since many at the local level were corrupt. Not to mention those in higher office who had clear ties to organized crime of money fraud, and stole meant to help the population. The last four presidents all embezzled money, one died before being formally tried, one is currently in prison for the same crime and the last two fled to Nicaragua. There have also been several former representative who have fled outside of El Salvador and are currently wanted for questioning.
Third- Those people who were unfortunate to live inside a hot zone of gang activities were give no support since the local police would not even venture into these neighborhoods, not only that but if you were wanting to start a business or simply walk to your home or visit a friend the gang member would charge you a "rent" for being in "their" territory. This added to an already impoverished population and many businesses owners forced to close up shop and many others fled the country for fear of them and their families being executed. This was also the problem for many teenagers that were also constantly harassed into joining, the were given the choice to either join or die along with their family members.
In conclusion, the people of El Salvador who have had to deal with these criminals for the las 30 years, who have lost family members, their livelihoods uprooted, and general fear of falling victim yet again to a group of criminals that kill indiscriminately for any reason they wish are more than happy to see done what they consider is long over due on the government's part in handling this crime epidemic. Sorry for the long essay here but I felt some clarification was required to understand were the people of El Salvador are coming from.
Forgot to mention that the new government laws will punish any gang member for 20 to 45 years depending on what role they played in the criminal organization. Also any collaborators with the gangs will get anywhere around 15 years. As for innocent people being rounded up as "gang" members, practical all have gang tattoos which make them rather easy to spot (notice how many are pictured shirtless in the arrest photos) not only that a lot of them have outstanding arrest warrants and also the local populace are helping the police identify and turn in gang members.
https://search.brave.com/search?q=el+salvador...ce=desktop
