Central America
Troops deployed in San Salvador amid massive gang crackdown
| By AFP |
More than 2,000 soldiers and police surrounded two districts in El Salvador’s capital on Saturday as part of President Nayib Bukele’s war on gangs, the second such operation this month in the Central American country.
“As of this morning, the Tutunichapa district in San Salvador is totally surrounded,” Bukele posted on Twitter.
“More than 1,000 soldiers and 130 police officers will extract the criminals who still remain,” he added.
Bukele later tweeted that 1,000 more soldiers and 100 police officers had been dispatched to La Granjita, another neighborhood in the capital.
“After encircling Tutunichapa, a famous drug distribution center, we knew that many drug traffickers would take refuge in the neighborhood of La Granjita, another famous distribution center”, Bukele tweeted.
Images released Saturday by the office of the president showed heavily armed soldiers entering Tutunichapa, a populous district where small houses mostly constructed of concrete blocks stand alongside one of the many polluted streams that run through San Salvador.
Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro posted photos of members of an anti-narcotics police unit with drug-sniffing dogs.
“We are going to extract every criminal from our communities,” Villatoro said in a Twitter post.
‘Bastion on crime’
Defense Minister Rene Merino said 23 people had been arrested in Tutunichapa, without specifying whether they were accused of being gang members or drug traffickers.
“All terrorists, drug traffickers and gang members will be removed” from the area, Bukele said in another tweet, adding that until recently it was a “bastion of crime.”
“Honest citizens have nothing to fear and can continue to live their lives normally,” he wrote.
Local resident Edwin Diaz, 51, cheered the law enforcement action, saying the area has long been considered a dangerous place due to gang activity and drug sales.
“All our lives we have suffered the stigma that here there is drug dealing, gang members, bad things, and today with this security they have set up, there is nothing to fear,” Diaz told AFP by phone on Saturday.
Echoing Bukele’s remark, Diaz added: “He who owes nothing, fears nothing.”
Almost 60,000 arrests
Earlier this month, Bukele, who has declared a state of emergency to quash gang violence, sent 8,500 soldiers and 1,500 police officers to surround Soyapango, the country’s third-largest city, with a population of nearly a quarter million.
The president had announced last month a plan to use troops to surround cities while house-by-house searches are conducted for gang members. Soyapango was first on the list.
The siege there has seen armored military vehicles, some with artillery, carrying out constant patrols while heavily armed police search houses and people as they leave their neighborhoods, as well as random sweeps of public transport.
As of Saturday, some 650 suspected gang members had been arrested in Soyapango, Merino said.
“We continue working in the rest of the territory looking for terrorist criminals,” the defense minister added.
Almost 60,000 suspected gang members have been arrested since the launch of the state of emergency in March, which has prompted humanitarian groups to question what they see as heavy-handed tactics.
Despite that criticism, El Salvador’s Congress on Thursday once again extended the state of emergency for another month.
Over 75 percent of Salvadorans approve of the emergency declaration, and nine out of 10 Salvadorans say that crime “has decreased” with Bukele’s policies, according to a Central American University (UCA) poll published in October.
Central America
Arrests and clashes in Tegucigalpa as vote count continues after Honduras election
Protesters affiliated with the ruling Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre) gathered in a demonstration that led to several arrests, disturbances, the burning of tires, and left at least 15 people injured outside the center where votes from Honduras’ November 30 general election are still being counted.
The group assembled on Monday outside the National Institute for Professional Training (INFOP) in Tegucigalpa, after President Xiomara Castro called on supporters through social media, claiming that a “new coup d’état” was being plotted in Honduras.
“I call on the people, social movements, grassroots organizations, party militants and citizens to urgently and peacefully gather in Tegucigalpa to defend the popular mandate, reject any coup attempt and make it clear to the world that a new coup is taking shape here,” the president said.
Castro has stated that she does not recognize the partial election results, which currently place right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura in the lead with 40.54% of the vote, followed closely by liberal candidate Salvador Nasralla with 39.20%. The ruling party’s candidate, Rixi Moncada, remains in a distant third place with 19.30%, with no realistic chance of a comeback.
Both the Libre Party and the Liberal Party, led by Castro and Nasralla respectively, have alleged electoral fraud. On Tuesday, the two parties agreed to participate in the special review panels that the National Electoral Council (CNE) says will finalize the count by reexamining 1,081 polling records flagged for irregularities.
Former president Manuel Zelaya, Castro’s husband and a senior figure within Libre, said last week that according to his party’s own nationwide tally of presidential ballots, Nasralla—a former Libre member—won the election.
Central America
Bukele says AI partnership with xAI will transform public education in El Salvador
President Nayib Bukele stated on Monday that the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with the support of Elon Musk’s company xAI, will help redefine the future of public education in El Salvador.
“El Salvador and xAI will redefine the future of public education. Children will not use Grok the same way we use it,” the president wrote on X.
Last week, Bukele and Musk announced a partnership to provide personalized tutoring through the AI assistant Grok for all students enrolled in public schools across the country.
This pioneering alliance between the Government of El Salvador and xAI represents the launch of the world’s first national education program powered by artificial intelligence.
“Grok will be used in all public schools in El Salvador over the next two years. More than one million students will receive personalized tutoring. Thousands of teachers will receive assistance and support as partners in the educational process,” the president explained.
Meanwhile, FMLN Secretary General Manuel Flores described the incorporation of AI into public school education as “reckless,” arguing that many schools still lack basic services such as electricity and internet access.
“Schools do not even have desks. They said: ‘All schools will have internet’; that promise was not fulfilled. And others used to say: ‘The only promises that matter are the ones that are kept,’” Flores said during his regular Monday press conference.
Flores questioned who would teach artificial intelligence classes, noting that in some areas schools lack televisions or electricity. “How are they going to have internet? Starlink [satellite internet service] has already been announced five times,” he added.
He further labeled the AI-driven education program promoted by President Bukele as “another lie,” comparing it to the “Two Schools a Day” initiative, which he claimed is “pure propaganda.”
The “Two Schools a Day” program was announced earlier this year and involves the construction or reconstruction of public schools nationwide to improve educational quality. The project is being implemented by government institutions such as the National Directorate of Municipal Works.
Central America
El Salvador ranks among top countries in the Americas in fight against organized crime
El Salvador has positioned itself as the country in the Americas with the strongest performance in the Global Organized Crime Index (GOCI), ranking 18th out of 35 countries in the region and 77th out of 193 nations worldwide that are engaged in the fight against organized crime.
According to the index, El Salvador outperforms Mexico, which ranks 2nd in the Americas and 3rd globally, as well as the United States, which holds the 14th position in the Americas and 60th worldwide.
The Global Organized Crime Index evaluates multiple indicators, including criminal markets, human trafficking and smuggling, extortion, arms trafficking, counterfeit goods trade, illicit trade in excisable goods, environmental crimes involving flora and fauna, crimes against non-renewable resources, heroin, cocaine, cannabis and synthetic drug trafficking, cyber-dependent crimes, financial crimes, mafia-style groups and criminal networks.
Within Central America, El Salvador surpasses Panama, which ranks 8th in the Americas and 21st globally; Costa Rica, ranked 13th in the region and 58th worldwide; Nicaragua, ranked 16th and 69th; Honduras, positioned 5th in the Americas and 13th globally; and Guatemala, which holds 9th place in the Americas and 25th worldwide.
Belize is the only Central American country ranked above El Salvador, placing 23rd in the Americas and 103rd globally. However, while El Salvador climbed 25 positions compared to its 2023 ranking—improving from 52nd to 77th—Belize dropped three positions, moving from 106th in 2023 to 103rd in the current index.
El Salvador’s progress in combating organized crime also surpasses that of several countries across the Americas, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Paraguay, all of which rank lower both regionally and globally.
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