El Salvador Opens Mega Prison as Nayib Bukele Intensifies Crackdown on Gangs Like MS-13

El Salvador is opening a mega prison as President Nayib Bukele escalates crackdown on violent street gangs like MS-13 and Barrio 18, which has come into intense scrutiny from human rights groups.

According to the Daily Mail, the new facility, one of the largest in Latin America, was built to house 40,000 suspected gang members, relieving the overpopulation in some of the country's prisons.

Ecuador's war on gangs has detained some 63,000 suspected criminals in just 10 months under a state of emergency that was supposed to last 30 days.

Known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, it will be guarded by more than 800 soldiers and police officers and is expected to double the country's incarceration capacity.

Built near Tecoluca, about 72 kilometers southeast of the capital San Salvador, the mega prison complex covers roughly 166 hectares and is described as a high-tech prison facility.

The gang crackdown has reportedly led to El Salvador having the highest incarceration rates in the world, with roughly 2% of the adult population now behind bars.

In April 2021, the government reported that the country's 29 prisons were at 120% of their capacity

What the New El Salvador Mega Prison Will Have in Store for Inmates

The El Salvador government said the Terrorism Confinement Center will be far from urban areas. Public Works Minister Romeo Rodriguez noted that some Salvadoran prisons were built near schools, hospitals, and residential buildings.

The mega prison will be a facility of its own equipped with eight electric substations, two water wells, a sewage-treatment plant, and five kilometers of access roads, according to La Prensa Latina.

It will also have tight security, with guards and other staff going through various security checks, including body scanners, to verify that they are not carrying weapons or contraband.

Rodriguez noted that telephones, televisions, and even prostitutes have previously entered the prison, but with this new facility, they would not be able to do that.

The facility also boasts 19 watchtowers, all complemented by thermal surveillance cameras that can detect movement.

However, unlike most prisons, inmates would not be allowed out of their cells unless they will go to the infirmary or have hearings.

"No yards have been built, nor recreation area for the inmates, nor conjugal spaces," Rodriguez said.

Critics Find El Salvador President Nayib Bukele's Punishment Worrisome

El Salvador's new mega-prison and Nayib Bukele's new focus on punishing gang members have worried many human rights groups.

It was recently reported that authorities also arrested innocent young men accused of being gang members due to their appearance or living in a gang-controlled territory.

Carolina Jimenez, president of the Latin America-focused non-governmental organization WOLA, said with this prison, the Bukele administration shows it does not have clear plans to prevent crime as the president's "main choice is a permanent state of 'exception' in which they commit human rights violations."

Another critic, Rev. Andreu Oliva, rector of the Jesuit-founded Central American University in San Salvador, told the Associated Press that the focus on punishment was worrisome.

"It shook me to see punishment cells where the people are going to be in total darkness, total isolation, sleeping on a concrete slab," Oliva noted.

He also criticized the prison's lack of libraries or rooms for education or training, saying that the facility would not help prisoners who wanted to leave criminal life.

Bukele downplayed the criticisms and said that critics are gang defenders. His gang crackdown has been widely popular so far, as gangs like MS-13 have long terrorized the population with violence, killings, and extortions.

In 2015, there were reportedly 6,656 homicides in El Salvador. However, the number lowered to 3,495 homicides last year, the lowest in decades.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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