State of emergency declared in El Salvador following day of brutal gang violence


At least 62 people were killed in El Salvador on Saturday during a spree of gang violence, leading the government to declare a state of emergency on Sunday.
Saturday was the deadliest day on record in the country since the end of its civil war 30 years ago, The New York Times reports. The gang members shot and killed people at random on the streets of San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. The victims included street vendors, people shopping for food, and bus passengers. A man named Marvin told the Times his neighbor was killed while buying bread, and he knows that once the police officers now in the area leave in about two weeks, "everything will return to normal," with gangs once again controlling the streets.
The state of emergency will last for 30 days, and suspends some civil liberties, including free assembly. The military is also restricting who can go in and leave neighborhoods that are under the control of the MS-13 street gang.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Prior to his election in 2019, President Nayib Bukele vowed to make the streets safer, and the homicide rate did drop. Late last year, the U.S. Treasury Department alleged that Bukele's government made a secret deal with gangs, and in exchange for a reduction in violence and murders, the gangs would receive financial incentives and their imprisoned leaders would have access to prostitutes and cell phones. Bukele has denied the accusations.
Some security analysts believe Saturday's violence may have been a message from the gangs to the government, indicating it's time to renegotiate the deal. "The terms of the previous pact with Bukele's government may have been untenable and the gangs may be trying to change the terms of that pact," Paul J. Angelo, a fellow of Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the Times. "Bukele is not letting a good crisis go to waste and this happened as he was already pushing the legislature to help him consolidate power."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
The Week contest: Tornado wedding
Puzzles and Quizzes
-
Real estate: A turning point for home prices?
Feature After soaring prices and bidding wars, homebuyers finally have the upper hand
-
Marfa, Texas: Big skies, fine art, and great eating
Feature A cozy neighborhood spot, a James Beard semifinalists, and more
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attack
Speed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival