An iron-fisted approach to El Salvador’s gangs

Imran Shaikh

Stripped down to shorts and with shaved heads, thousands of men are packed into a room, bodies pressed against each other. Their wrists and ankles are shackled. They sit on the floor until ready to be moved, while armed guards watch over them. These are the conditions those being sent to El Salvador’s new mega prison, the Center for Confining Terrorism (CECOT), must endure.

According to Vox, CECOT is a response to gang activity in the country, which has been prevalent since the Salvadoran Civil War. The conflict prompted many to flee to the U.S., where the gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18 were born. Upon returning to El Salvador after the war, these gangs made use of leftover weapons to engage in murder, extortion, human trafficking and drug trading. In 2022, prior to CECOT’s opening in January, El Salvador underwent a gang crackdown after a surge in violence, and President Nayib Bukele declared a temporary state of emergency, suspending certain constitutional rights. Over 60,000 arrests had been made, and by mid 2022, almost 2% of El Salvador’s adult population had been imprisoned.

In February, Bukele released a video of hundreds of men being transferred to CECOT, which can hold 40,000 inmates, making it the largest prison in the Americas. The video was released a day after the U.S. leveled an indictment against El Salvador, accusing government officials of secretly holding talks with

MS-13 members. While Bukele denies these accusations, the U.S. maintains that the Salvadoran government offered shorter sentences and better conditions in exchange for a reduction of murders within the country, according to CNN.

“Bukele’s video of CECOT shows the success of his gang crackdowns while instilling fear into criminals. It was a good idea to release the video after the American indictment since the Salvadoran government should not feel intimidated by another foreign nation’s accusations,” Junior Jordan Cutaran

CECOT consists of eight buildings, each of which contain 32 rooms designed to house 100 inmates each. There are only two sinks and two toilets per room, and 80 metal bunks for every 100 prisoners. Inmates are only able to leave these cells for virtual legal hearings and for punishment in unlit, windowless isolation cells. Security is provided by 600 soldiers and 250 police officers, and those in cell blocks are armed.

Many Salvadorans view CECOT as the realization of Bukele’s “iron-fisted” approach to crime, with La Prensa Gráfica, a Salvadoran newspaper, claiming that 89% of Salvadorans support the president. Foreign fans of

Bukele and conservative American commentators like The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles have also praised CECOT. However, the prison has its share of opponents. Human Rights Watch America’s Acting Director Tamara Taraciuk claims that the high inmate density will allow gangs to easily contact and recruit people. Plus, many were arrested solely for having tattoos in areas known for gang behavior. Without judicial guarantee, it is difficult for inmates to prove their innocence.

“While CECOT seems to have been an effective way of reducing the murder rate, having prisons with large inmate populations can worsen already poor conditions. If Bukele had created smaller, more spread out prisons, they would better ensure the safety of Salvadorans as there would be smaller areas for guards to patrol,” Hannah Sutton said. Though opinion on CECOT may vary, it is indisputable that Bukele’s gang crackdown has yielded results. In 2022, the country’s murder rate dropped by 56.8%, according to Reuters. While this change is welcome in a nation ravaged by gang violence, many are still unsure if CECOT’s benefits are worth the unfounded imprisonments that came with it.