Central America

Brazilian deputies visit Cecot and highlight security results

Photo: Diario El Salvador

December 18 |

Brazilian federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro highlighted yesterday on social networks the security results obtained by the government of President Nayib Bukele. The Brazilian legislator was part of the delegation of seven parliamentarians who visited the country to see the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) and all the security policies implemented in the last four years.

He also reiterated that President Bukele has a 90% approval rating from the population and that the security measures implemented with the Territorial Control Plan (PCT) and the exception regime have allowed El Salvador to accumulate more than 500 days without homicides during his administration, in which more than 75,000 criminals, mainly gang members, have also been arrested.

The implementation of security strategies, reforms to regulations so that criminals do not leave prisons, the alignment of powers and the dignification of the security forces are some of the aspects that Bolsonaro highlighted, so he reiterated that this has allowed President Bukele to achieve the transformation of El Salvador.

“What Nayib Bukele did is everything we proposed in terms of security in the Brazilian congress. The mentality is the same: arrested criminals do not commit crimes in society. With greater punishability, the economic theory of the criminal becomes more dangerous for him to commit a crime. Bukele managed to do this by electing a group of aligned parliamentarians and purging mainly the radical left in the elections,” Bolsonaro wrote in X.

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The congressman stressed that, thanks to the exception regime, El Salvador went from being the most violent country in the world in 2015 to a benchmark in security and rivaling Switzerland for the number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

“Today, if a police officer finds a notorious mafioso, he can arrest him for up to six months, the time the Public Prosecutor’s Office has to present the first evidence against the accused. The rule is that the accused responds to the arrested case (in Brazil it is the opposite). Between criminals and good people, today El Salvador cares about good citizens. That is why in Brazil there are criminals every day who have criminal records, who walk around the block and are arrested countless times; no longer in El Salvador,” he said.

President Bukele managed to decrease the criminal actions of gangs since he began his administration in 2019, and 2023 is about to close as the safest year in the history of El Salvador, an aspect that has paved the way for sectors such as the economy, tourism and education to develop and strengthen; to this effect the president considered important the dignification of law enforcement and has emphasized that none of the above would be possible without them.

Bolsonaro pointed out: “With more personnel, better salaries, with social security support, technology, support from the president and the population, as well as legal support, the police will fight the initial battle. Then comes social support: health, education, employment. Before, it made no sense to build schools in a gang-dominated area […]. Tourism also receives special attention as an economic engine.

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Related Topics:Brazil CECOT Central America El Salvador

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The decision was announced on Tuesday through the municipality’s official Facebook page and comes as a preventive action amid the state of siege declared by the national government last Sunday.

The Mazatenango Carnival, one of the country’s most emblematic festivities, boasts more than 140 years of traditionand typically draws large crowds from across Guatemala and neighboring regions. Its program usually includes parades of floats, the traditional “Rabbit Race,” street dancing and live music, concerts, and cultural events in the Central Plaza.

According to the official statement, the cancellation responds to the current security context and the restrictions associated with the state of siege, prioritizing public safety.

Municipal authorities clarified that the scheduled concert by La Arrolladora Banda El Limón will still take place separately and will be the sole responsibility of the private production company, independent of the cancelled carnival activities.