A few days ago, the Salvadoran newspaper El Faro reported that the country’s steep decline in homicides, hailed as the Government’s main achievement during Nayib Bukele’s little over a year-long leadership, was being called into question by a press investigation which claims the success can be attributed to a pact with the ‘mara’ Salvatrucha gang (MS13).

The newspaper published a report, citing official documents and statements from one of the gang’s leaders, which suggest the Government has been in negotiations with MS13 since June 2020, and that the pact would include electoral favours during the 2021 elections.

El Faro’s investigation indicates that negotiations between the Government and the “maras” include the groups’ commitment to back the current officialdom in the election next February. In return, the government has allegedly promised to repeal laws and weaken the maximum security regime in prisons if Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party gains control of the Legislative Assembly and wins the right to choose the 84 MPs and 262 local governments.

Meanwhile, according to police data, between January the 1st and September the 2nd this year, there were 829 homicides in the country. This figure represents a reduction of approximately 56% on the 1,871 violent deaths recorded during the same period in 2019.

If this trend continues, El Salvador will close 2020 with around 1,200 homicides, representing a murder rate of 18 per 100,000 inhabitants, its lowest figure since 1994.

The “maras” have been declared a terrorist group by El Salvador’s Supreme Court. Therefore, as the evidence supporting the Government’s alleged dialogue with the group mounts and the voices denouncing these links gain credibility, the US State Department and the North-American Congress are becoming increasingly concerned.

Despite the investigative reports, El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, denied his government had made a pact with the “mara” Salvatrucha (MS13) gang to reduce the number of assassinations in exchange for more beneficial custodial terms. Bukele pointed out that the same people who had previously accused the Government of violating the terrorists’ human rights were now accusing it of granting them privileges.

The president recalled the events of last April when the “maras” increased the daily average number of murders for several days. In response, the Salvadoran Government ordered the prisons to confine the “maras” to their cells 24 hours a day, fix metal plates to the bars of their cell doors to prevent them communicating with signals, and ensure gang members were mixed in their cells, regardless of whether they belonged to rival gangs.

However, according to the El Faro newspaper, the decision to mix different gang members in the same prison cell was later repealed following talks between government officials and the heads of the criminal organisations; an accusation denied by the Government.

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