- This footage shows El Salvador's answer to gang violence.
Thousands of alleged gang members
stripped down to expose their tattoos
in a brand new mega prison set to house 40,000 inmates.
(speaking in foreign language)
Gangs turned El Salvador's murder rate
into one of the highest in the world.
And to end this cycle of violence,
the country's President, Nayib Bukele,
ordered a crackdown in March last year
arresting more than 66,000 people since then.
Communities say the streets are safer
but rights groups and some residents
argue that this change has come at a high price.
That innocent men and women
and even minors have been rounded up
and held indefinitely without access to lawyers.
(speaking in foreign language)
I'm here in El Salvador to gauge the impact of this effort,
and what it means for families and communities,
and for our Central American country
that has been gripped by gang violence for decades,
stoking both poverty and migration towards the US.
(dramatic music)
In El Salvador, a country the size of Massachusetts
and with a population of 6.3 million,
the violence has been blamed on the MS 13
and the 18th Street gangs, groups that originated
among Salvadorians in the US in the 1980s.
They terrorized communities for decades in El Salvador,
demanding weekly extortion payments
from business owners and imposing curfews.
In 2015, El Salvador's murder rate
was over 100 per 100,000 people.
But by 2022, officials said the number went down to 7.8.
(speaking in foreign language)
President Nayib bukele imposed a state of emergency
where lawmakers suspended constitutional guarantees,
allowing soldiers to raid communities
in search of anyone with suspected gang ties.
(soldiers speaking in foreign language)
The mass arrests gave El Salvador the world's
highest incarceration rate as 1% of the national population
has been put behind bars over the past year.
As a result of the crackdown,
gang members are no longer prevalent in communities.
Small businesses can now operate without fear
and at any time of the day
without having to pay high extortion fees.
But the offensive fractured many of the poorest households.
Tens of thousands of young children
have had at least one parent or caregiver
detained under the declared state of emergency.
Anna Mancia says her four adult children
were working as street vendors
when they were detained last year.
(speaking in foreign language)
She was left to take care of six grandchildren.
None of them go to school and Anna struggles to feed them.
Families like Anna's can't afford legal representation.
Alejandro Diaz Gomez is a nonprofit attorney.
He advises 250 families of detainees
who he says are wrongfully held.
(speaking in foreign language)
Rights groups say people are locked up
in crowded cells with little food
while they wait indefinitely for trial.
This man told us his two sons were arrested
during the crackdown last year.
(civilian speaking in foreign language)
El Salvador's Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro
denied allegations of human rights abuses
and arbitrary detentions,
adding that all gang members will spend
the rest of their lives behind bars
More than a year into the crackdown.,
President Bukele's approval rating is at a record high.
(crowd cheering)
(announcer speaking in foreign language)
Polls at the start of the year
showed more than 90% of Salvadorians
are happy with the President's security effort.
And El Salvador's model has drawn the attention
of other Latin American countries gripped
by violent crime such as Ecuador and Honduras.
Political analysts say, the crackdown's popularity
could pave the way for bukele to seek reelection next year.
While the country's constitution
does not allow a president
to have consecutive terms in office,
he has said he plans to run again.
(crowd cheering)
(gentle music)