SECURITY · EL SALVADOR
Key Facts
- —The country El Salvador, a dollarised Central American country, has suspended some due-process rights under a state of exception since March 2022.
- —Why it matters The gang crackdown is Bukele’s signature policy, and its targets, MS-13 and Barrio 18, are both on the US terrorist list.
- —Why now President Nayib Bukele floated the early-release plan on Tuesday, 13 October, and human rights lawyers answered on Wednesday, 14 October.
- —What happened Bukele said his government is weighing monitored, conditional early release for roughly 50% of prisoners jailed for helping gangs.
- —The numbers The government counts more than 93,162 people captured under the emergency measure, which lawmakers extended for a 55th time on 23 September.
- —What it means for you Low-level helpers of US-designated terrorist gangs could leave prison under supervision, a test for El Salvador’s new security record.
- —Still open No timetable, legal basis or list of who qualifies has been published, and it is unclear whether judges or a government team will decide.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele says his government is weighing early release for about half of the country’s jailed gang collaborators. He said those freed would be monitored and bound by conditions, not simply let go.
Bukele spoke on Tuesday, 13 October, at a press conference at the presidential palace in San Salvador. The plan would apply to prisoners held under his four-year crackdown, which rights groups say also swept up innocent people.
For US readers, it matters because MS-13 and Barrio 18 are both designated foreign terrorist organisations in Washington. El Salvador’s sharp fall in homicides is also central to its pitch to US tourists and investors.
What Bukele Said
Bukele, president since 2019 and re-elected in 2024, founded the Nuevas Ideas party, which campaigns on a tough-on-crime platform. He answered a reporter’s question at the end of the press conference, according to the San Salvador daily Diario El Mundo.
“We are evaluating the cases to offer early release to a large number of inmates who are guilty, who do deserve to be in prison,” he said. He added that, given “the special conditions our country lived through,” an exception might be made for many of them.
He put the group at “more or less 50 per cent of the prisoners in El Salvador who have collaborated with gangs.” Release would come with monitoring and other conditions, he said, without giving a timetable.
Bukele also said he would “love” to lift the state of exception and will do so at some point. For now, he compared the measure to chemotherapy and warned that the gang “cancer” would return if it stopped too soon.
Who Counts as Gang Collaborators
Bukele drew a line between gang members and people who helped them under pressure in gang-held neighbourhoods. He argued that arresting every collaborator would have meant jailing about 20% of the population.
Someone who helped bury a body “almost deserves life in prison,” he said. A youth posted at the end of an alley to warn of police is guilty too, he added, but asked how guilty.
The government says it has set criteria based on the level of collaboration. Bukele said the body applying them “can be called a commission, it can be called the system.”
Infobae’s El Salvador desk reported that Bukele denied that his brother has any role in such a body. In April, his brother Ibrajim Bukele said on X that an “independent team” was reviewing detainees’ cases one by one.
The investigative outlet El Faro reported then that, by his account, the team included staff from the office of First Lady Gabriela de Bukele. Under Salvadoran law, only judges can order a detainee freed, El Faro noted.
A Crackdown With No End Date
The Legislative Assembly first approved the state of exception on 27 March 2022 to fight the gangs. It suspends some due-process rights and has been renewed every month since, most recently on 23 September.
The government says the measure has led to the capture of more than 93,162 people and 1,215 days without a homicide. National police daily updates logged six violent deaths in September, Diario El Mundo reported.
Rights groups count more than 500 deaths of detainees in custody and over 6,500 complaints, mostly of arbitrary arrest. Bukele said on Tuesday that the government has no intention of keeping innocent people in prison.
In January 2026, Bukele said 70% of El Salvador’s prisoners would walk free within a decade after a reform programme. Tuesday’s remarks went further by describing an early, conditional release for gang collaborators.
Rights Lawyers Push Back
Ivania Cruz, a lawyer for the human rights group Unidehc, said on X that it is not up to a president to free anyone. She argued that the remark shows a lack of independence among the country’s state institutions.
Cruz urged the government to start with a list of detainees considered innocent that her group gave to the government’s human rights commissioner, Andrés Guzmán. She and fellow Unidehc spokesman Rudy Joya have arrest warrants against them in El Salvador, which they call false.
Her point goes to the heart of the plan’s legal problem. A presidential review team has no clear power under Salvadoran law to cut sentences or end pre-trial detention.
What It Means for You
Washington designated MS-13 a foreign terrorist organisation in February 2025 and Barrio 18 in September 2025. Any release of convicted gang collaborators is likely to draw scrutiny from US officials and lawmakers.
For US travellers and investors, El Salvador’s low murder rate is the main draw, and Bukele said on Tuesday that crime is still falling. He has not said what the monitoring would involve, which leaves open how the risk of reoffending would be managed.
Risks remain, as any rise in crime after releases would test the security premium now built into tourism and property. Readers weighing a move can start with Investing in El Salvador as a Foreigner and our San Salvador city guide.
The wider political picture is set out in El Salvador Explained 2026 and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele Explained. Recent mass trials are covered in El Salvador Jails 71 Barrio 18 Members in Group Trial.
What Is Not Known
The government has not published any decree, bill or rules for the release plan. It is not known how many gang collaborators would qualify, since official figures on such convictions are not public.
It is also unclear whether courts, prosecutors or a government team would decide each case. Bukele gave no date for the plan or for an end to the state of exception.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Bukele propose for gang collaborators?
He said his government is weighing early, conditional release for roughly half of the prisoners jailed for helping gangs. Those released would be monitored and would have to meet conditions.
Who would qualify for early release?
Bukele pointed to low-level helpers, such as youths who warned gangs that police were coming. People linked to serious crimes would be treated differently, and he said helping bury a body almost deserves life in prison.
Is the state of exception ending?
Not yet, although Bukele said he would like to lift it at some point. It has been in force since 27 March 2022 and was last extended on 23 September.
Why does this matter to the United States?
MS-13 and Barrio 18 are both designated foreign terrorist organisations by the US State Department. Releases of people tied to them will be watched closely in Washington.
When will releases begin?
Bukele gave no timetable, and no decree or bill has been published. It is also unclear who will make the final decision in each case.
Sources: Diario El Mundo, 14 October; Diario El Mundo, Unidehc reaction, 14 October; Infobae El Salvador, 13 October; Diario El Mundo, homicide figures, 14 October; El Faro, 8 April; Federal Register, MS-13 designation, 20 February 2025; Federal Register, Barrio 18 designation, 24 September 2025.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error