El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele inaugurates prison for gang members

• The president of El Salvador unveils new prison for gang members.
• The Terrorism Confinement Center is inaugurated.
• Bukele began the presentation with part of his cabinet.

NEW PRISON FOR GANG MEMBERS IN EL SALVADOR! The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, inaugurated a prison for gang members that has been dubbed the Terrorism Confinement Center. The new prison is one of the largest in Latin America.

After presenting the new prison, the Salvadoran president, accompanied by half of his cabinet, explained that the confinement center was created because the country has been dealing with a wave of gang violence.

THE LARGEST PRISON IN LATIN AMERICA

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, unveiled Tuesday the Terrorism Confinement Center, a prison that the authorities describe as the largest in Latin America. It is dedicated to the confinement of gang members, to whom the majority of the crimes committed in the country are attributed, The Associated Press reported.

The unveiling of the Terrorism Confinement Center promised to become one of the most specialized prisons for gang-related criminals. In El Salvador, problems with gangs continues to increase as the years go by.

Bukele’s promise?

Bukele, who presented the enormous prison complex on a national radio and television network, was accompanied by members of his security cabinet, the general director of Centros Penales and Minister Obras Públicas, Romeo Rodriguez, according to The Associated Press.

The prison, with a capacity for 40,000 inmates, was a promise from Bukele a few days after Congress decreed the emergency regime to persecute gangs to which 62 homicides were attributed during the day of violence on March 26, the AP noted.

What other changes will there be?

El Salvador only has 29 prisons nationwide, with the Zacatecoluca prison, known as Zacatraz, being the only maximum security facility. The state of emergency limits freedom of association and suspends the right of a person to be duly informed of their rights and reasons for their arrest, as well as the assistance of a lawyer, reported the AP.

In addition, Congress also reformed the Criminal and Procedural Code to criminalize being part of a gang, an offense that carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The ringleaders can receive sentences of 40 to 45 years. In crimes related to organized crime, which includes gangs, adolescents over 16 years of age could receive 20 years in jail and those between 12 and 16 could receive 10 years. Filed Under: El Salvador jail gang members