The Final Straw Radio El Salvador: An Anarcha-Feminist Perspective January 18, 2020
"Elisa – The government of Nayib Bukele came to national power in June and we see have in these six months how he has driven the state into debt with loans, to the tune of two billion dollars. Most of this has been invested in the Territorial Control Plan, the security plan implemented to handle the problem of the street gangs. We can see that the streets have become militarized, more soldiers have gone into the streets. By August of 2019 there were 7,300 soldiers in the streets and it has been announced that another 3,000 will join them at the turning of 2020. Also, in July there was a visit from the Massachusetts National Guard with the intention of developing a relationship of support for the Territorial Control Plan here. They intend to build a permanent base of operations by 2021 for implementing the security plan that will be handed over to the military.
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Elisa – Concerning the relations with the US, I have already spoken a little about military support. In visits that have taken place Bukele has called his friend a very cool president, in spite of what Trump has said about countries like ours. I believe it’s a case of total submission, actually. Even the Chancellor, before the current government took the office, was asked what the relationship was going to be like and retorted with the question, “How are we going to bite the hand that feeds us?” It is worrying, like leaving the door completely open to US intervention. And now with the theme of “Third Safe Country” so as to avoid all immigration to the US, it is said that the three countries of the Northern Traingle (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador), that the people seeking asylum from the US can do it from within these countries. And that is totally contradictory the immigrants who are escaping these countries are leaving precisely because they are not safe countries, people are fleeing their countries for all of the political and social situations that there are. So this lets the US prevent immigration, and while Trump is talking about building a wall, this is building a wall by another means.
TFSR – Talk of immigration relationships between the United States of America and El Salvador would be lacking greatly if it did not mention the terrible tragedy of the 12 year civil war in El Salvador from 1979 until 1992. Under U.S. president Jimmy Carter and continuing through Reagan, the U.S. began supplying between $1–2 Million per day to the Salvadoran government for it’s counterinsurgency against the population, including massacres by government allied, US trained death squads. Can you talk about this history, how it fits in to the story of immigration and the state of social conflict in El Salvador today?
Elisa – With respect to immigration and the relation to the Salvadoran Civil War, during this period many people were forced to flee. After the the peace treaty was signed, some people returned to El Salvador that had been in the US, others were eventually deported. Of all these people who returned one way or another, some had had to defend themselves from street gangs in the U.S. by forming their own gangs while they were there. These gangs were later reconstituted here, so yes, there is a big relationship here between migration and street level gang violence. Migration also resulted in separation of many families. Sometimes it was the mother or the father that had immigrated to the US and left their children with their grandparents or other family members. This made many kids and adolescents vulnerable since they didn’t have support, any caretaker. They had to live, sometimes in precarious communities, many times without access to the basics like healthcare, education and are looking for an exit wherever they can find it. Many times that security is in the gang. So, all of this has a relationship to immigraiton."
Together Forward in El Salvador Many MSP members also serve their country in the armed forces. Here, Troopers Jonathan Showalter (second fr
"Phase three: "Modernization"
See also: 2020 Salvadoran political crisis
On 1 August 2019, Bukele announced the beginning of phase three of the Territorial Control Plan. Known as "modernization", phase three sought to modernize the weapons and vehicles possessed by the country's security forces to more efficiently combat crime;[62] The phase demanded the issuance of new firearms, bulletproof vests, helmets, radios, night vision cameras, helicopters, and drones to the country's security forces. It also called for improved police patrols and police outposts.[63] A line of soldiers inside the Legislative Assembly on 9 February 2020
In October 2019, the CABEI agreed to give the Salvadoran government a US$109 million loan to finance phase three, and the South Korean government donated US$5.3 million to finance the phase. On 30 January 2020, the Legislative Assembly voted against approving the US$109 million loan from the CABEI. The two largest political parties—the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN)—both voted against its approval, questioning the effectiveness of the Territorial Control Plan and demanding more transparency in where the money would be allocated.[61][64] In response, on 6 February 2020, Bukele invoked article 167 of the country's constitution, ordering an extraordinary session of the Legislative Assembly to convene on 9 February 2020 to approve the loan from the CABEI.[65] When the extraordinary session convened, Bukele entered the Legislative Assembly accompanied by 40 soldiers, however, less than half of the legislature's members attended the session and the loan was not approved.[66] Mario Ponce, the president of the Legislative Assembly, described the incident as an "attempted coup", to which Bukele responded by stating "if I was a dictator, I would have taken control of everything".[67]
On 18 February 2020, 1,400 more soldiers were mobilized to enforce the Territorial Control Plan in response to the Legislative Assembly's refusal to approve the loan from the CABEI. Bukele stated that "[w]e have to go out and work with or without resources" ("[t]enemos que salir y trabajar con o sin recursos").[68]
Phase four: "Incursion"
On 19 July 2021, Bukele announced the beginning of phase four of the Territorial Control Plan. Known as "incursion", the phase consisted of the country's security forces directly entering territories with heavy gang influence where the security forces previously found difficult to enter or patrol. During the announcement, Bukele stated that "[a]ll those who are thinking about doing something should think about it multiple times before ending up in jail" ("[t]odos los que estén pensando en hacer algo, deben pensarlo varias veces antes de terminar en la cárcel") as a message to the gangs.[69]
Phase five: "Extraction
In July 2022, Bukele had ordered the construction of a new prison with capacity for 40,000 inmates to hold individuals arrested during the gang crackdown and to relieve overcrowding in the country's other prisons.[71][72] In February 2023, Bukele posted a video on Twitter of him and members of his cabinet touring the prison, named the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), prior to his opening.[73] Later that month, Bukele posted another video to Twitter showing the first 2,000 prisoners being transferred to CECOT, with the prisoners all with shaved heads and wearing only white gym shorts.[74] He posted another video showing a second prisoner transfer in March 2023.[75] According to an opinion poll conduced by CIESCA in March 2023, 96.4 percent of respondents supported the construction of CECOT while 3.6 percent opposed it.[76] As of 9 July 2023, CECOT has a population of over 12,500 inmates."
