SAN SALVADOR.- He President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukeleassured that he will fight the gangs “without taking a single step back,” when commemorating 14 years since the death of 17 people who were burned inside a minibus.
“Exactly 14 years ago, on June 20, 2010, we experienced one of the cruelest episodes perpetrated by terrorist gang members, who set fire to a minibus, burning 17 people alive and shooting at point-blank range those who were trying to escape the flames. “, wrote Bukele on social network X.
The attack, which also left 15 injured, was carried out by gang members from Barrio 18 in the city of Mejicanos, northern outskirts of San Salvador.
“For the victims of that fateful day and for the 150,000 people who were murdered, in addition to those who were extorted, assaulted, injured and those who were raped; it is for them that we fight against these terrorists without taking a single step back,” the president emphasized.
The Barrio 18 and its rival the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) established a parallel state that controlled 80% of the territory.
In power since 2019, Bukele is waging a “war” against gangs under an emergency regime in force since 2022 and with more than 80,000 suspected gang members detained.
The emergency regime, which allows arrests without a court order, was decreed by Congress at the request of Bukele in response to an escalation of violence that claimed the lives of 87 people between March 25 and 27, 2022.
“Let us never forget where we come from, to NEVER return to that dark past, which had become our daily life,” Bukele emphasized.
Humanitarian organizations question the detention of innocent people under the emergency regime.
Source: With information from AFP
