El Salvador: Bukele inaugurates the largest prison in the Americas

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, inaugurated on Tuesday a new prison with a capacity for up to 40,000 inmates, all in the midst of the open war against gangs launched on March 27, 2022, in an effort to combat a wave of homicides.

According to a statement issued by the Salvadoran Presidency, at this new penitentiary center called Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) [Terrorism Confinement Center], “the terrorists who have caused so much grief to the country’s population” will serve their sentences.

In this sense, the Executive has responded to the accusation of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) that this prison does not comply with the international regulations of the United Nations on treating prisoners, assuring that it has all the necessary security standards and protocols.

Meanwhile, inside and outside the CECOT facilities, more than 600 soldiers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador and 250 members of the National Police of El Salvador will provide security support at all times to deal with any possible disturbances.

The facilities have been built in an area isolated from urban areas, with a size that would make it the largest prison in the Americas, according to the Government, which has detailed that the prison has an independent electricity and drinking water supply system so as not to affect the surrounding areas.

The Salvadoran Parliament approved on March 27 the entry into force for 30 days of the emergency regime throughout the country to combat the wave of homicides, which one day earlier left more than 60 dead.

With information from LGI