El Salvador registers 365 days without homicides

By Vinicius Sales

The reduction is a result of the government’s repressive policy against organized crime and violent groups

President Nayib Bukele said on Thursday (11) that El Salvador has added 365 days without homicide since he began his term in 2019.

“We end May 10, 2023 with 0 homicide at the national level. With this one, that’s 365 days without homicides – a whole year,” Bukele said on Twitter.

The reduction is a result of the government’s repressive policy against organized crime and violent groups. Upon taking office in 2019, Bukele was faced with a country that recorded 38 homicides per 100,000 population.

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The year 2022 ended with 7.8 homicides per 100,000 population.

The Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro, said that the days without homicides are “a historic milestone” and that the task started in 2019 “was not easy, but neither was it impossible.”

The policy adopted by the government was to directly attack the violent groups, even going so far as to make arrests without a warrant.

The regime of exception was instituted on March 27, 2022, in response to an escalation of gang killings that killed 87 people from March 25 to 27, 2022.