Escalation of violence in El Salvador leaves 20 homicides in a single day

The National Civil Police (PNC) reported that 20 homicides were registered this Wednesday in The SaviorTherefore, police and military elements have been deployed in different areas of the country.

The police corporation reported a double homicide scene in a populous neighborhood in the municipality of Soyapango (this) and indicated that the victims “were active members of the 18S (southern) gang (neighborhood).”

And I add: “During the day (November 10), 20 homicides have been reported nationwide”.

Faced with this situation, the president Nayib B Watch noted in his social networks that he ordered “Raids by the Police and the Armed Forces in the places where homicides were registered yesterday (Tuesday) and today (Wednesday)”.

Watch attributed the alleged rise in homicides in recent days to “Dark forces that are working so that we return to the past, but this Government is not going to allow it.”

He added that in the next few hours he will announce “New actions to contain this escalation of violence and restore tranquility to Salvadorans”.

According to official data, Between January 1 and November 2 of the current year, 936 murders were recorded, 1,208 deaths less than the 2,144 reported in the same period in 2019.

El Salvador is besieged by the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18 gangs.

The gangs, a phenomenon considered a legacy of the civil war (1980-1992) and that was strengthened with the deportation of gang members from the United States, have resisted different security plans of mass incarceration, direct confrontation and dialogue of the last four governments.