El Salvador Vice President Félix Ulloa had admitted that mistakes were made in the gang crackdown by President Nayib Bukele, which has been popular with residents but has raised eyebrows abroad, especially with human rights groups.

However, Ulloa still defended the gang crackdown despite the admitted mistakes during his interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, just a few days before El Salvador's presidential election, which his running mate, Bukele, is expected to win easily.

Ulloa stated that the gang crackdown policies under Bukele will continue "until El Salvador's gangs are defeated." The policy has been very popular among the citizenry and is expected to push Bukele to win his re-election campaign.

However, Ulloa also acknowledged that the government imprisoned thousands of people who had not committed any crime as part of the Bukele administration's mass detentions to root out gang members. He told the AP they are trying to correct it but still justified these harsh actions as being widely popular and completely "legal."

Bukele's gang crackdown started after a surge of gang violence in El Salvador, with killings being perpetrated by gangs like MS-13 and Barrio-18. This led the government to declare a state of emergency in March 2022, granting special powers to President Nayib Bukele and allowing warrantless arrests.

Since the crackdowns began, the government has detained 76,000 people, which is over 1% of the population of El Salvador. The State of Emergency also has suspended some fundamental rights for those detained, including access to a lawyer and being told why you're being arrested. The Bukele-aligned Congress has renewed this state of emergency every month since it was first declared.

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Nayib Bukele Expected To Win El Salvador Elections Via Landslide Amid Gang Crackdowns

As for the upcoming El Salvador presidential elections, despite the legality of his run being possibly unconstitutional, many are expecting President Nayib Bukele to win via a landslide.

He has described himself as the "World's Coolest Dictator," and NBC News even noted that he has "transformed El Salvador from a country infamous for its record on murder and gangs to a nation with one of the lowest homicide rates in the Americas" in less than five years.

The reason for his popularity is that Salvadorans are already weary of years of gang violence. They say, under Bukele, they "can live in ways unimaginable before." This includes being able to enter neighborhoods controlled by rival gangs without fearing for their lives, as well as opening businesses without paying crushing extortion fees.

Other Latin American Leaders Copying Nayib Bukele's Methods in El Salvador

With Bukele's success in El Salvador, other Latin American leaders are taking note, with local and national politicians promising to follow his policies and implement them in their areas.

This is evident in El Salvador after President Daniel Noboa announced the creation of two Bukele-style prisons. El Pais also noted that mayors, legislators, and governors from Peru, Chile, and Argentina have campaigned on Bukele-style reforms.

READ MORE: El Salvador: Military and Police Surround Town To Root Out MS-13 Gang Members

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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