Blockade of southern Chalatenango

Last updated

Blockade of southern Chalatenango
Part of the Salvadoran gang crackdown
Date24 March 2024 – present
Location
Southern Chalatenango Department
StatusOngoing
Parties

Criminal gangs

Lead figures

Uncentralized leadership

Number
5,000 soldiers
1,000 police officers
Unknown
Casualties
Arrested50 (as of 2 April 2024) [1]

The blockade of southern Chalatenango began on 24 March 2024 when Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ordered 5,000 soldiers and 1,000 police officers to blockade and enter the four municipalities in southern Chalatenango. The blockade is the second to be implemented in the Chalatenango Department after the blockade of Nueva Concepción which began in May 2023. The blockade aims to dismantle the 18 Sureños clique of the 18th Street gang.

Contents

Background

On 27 March 2022, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador voted to implement a state of emergency after criminal gangs in El Salvador killed 87 people over the course of one weekend. [2] The vote began the Salvadoran gang crackdown which up to 24 March 2024 had resulted in the arrests of over 78,100 people with suspected gang affiliations. [3] In late-2022 and throughout 2023, the Salvadoran government implemented blockades of parts of the country where gang presence remained high after the crackdown initially began. [4] On 17 May 2023, the Salvadoran Army and the National Civil Police initiate a blockade of Nueva Concepción, a municipality of the Chalatenango Department in northern El Salvador. [5]

Blockade

On 18 March 2024, a homicide was reported to the National Civil Police in San José Cancasque. A few days later on 22 March, a second homicide was reported in the city of Chalatenango. The homicides were linked to the 18 Sureños gang, and the alleged assailants of the two homicides were captured by the National Civil Police by 24 March. [6] The police also recovered the two shotguns allegedly used in the homicides. [4] Radio YSUCA reported that residents in southern Chalatenango noticed an increased military presence following the homicides, and some claimed that the government was going to implement a blockade. [7]

On 24 March, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced on X the beginning of a blockade in the southern Chalatenango municipalities of Potonico, San Antonio Los Ranchos, San José Cancasque, and San Isidro Labrador due to the two homicides committed in the days prior. [7] Bukele stated that the goal of the blockade was to dismantle 18 Sureños gang, a clique of the 18th Street gang. [3] A total of 5,000 soldiers and 1,000 police officers were mobilized to blockade the municipalities and arrest gang members. [7] Bukele included a video in his post, in which, the two arrested suspects were shown in front of columns of soldiers. [6]

Reactions

Bukele ended his announcement by stating that "we will not stop until we eradicate what little remains of the gangs" ("no nos vamos a detener hasta erradicar lo poco que aún queda de las pandillas"). [6] Minister of National Defense René Merino Monroy wrote on X that "we will clean the zone completely, we will extract up to the final remnants of the gangs" ("limpiaremos por completo la zona, vamos a extraer hasta el último remanente de pandillas"). [4] Director of the National Civil Police Mauricio Arriaza Chicas stated that the blockade's objective was to "eradicate the 18S clique which commits crime in the zone" ("erradicar la clica de 18S que delinque en la zona"). [8]

Cristosal, a Salvadoran human rights non-governmental organization, asked the military and the police to respect the rights of residents "forced to open their houses" ("obligados a abrir sus casas") in order to search for gang members, and to respect the rights of individuals arrested. [9] Cristosal claimed that the security forces were engaging in arbitrary arrests during the blockade. Cristosal also claimed that the blockade was established in the four municipalities specifically because they voted for Manuel Flores of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) over Bukele in the presidential election two months earlier. Cristosal added that the government had "repeated utilized the army as political tool on occasions to generate pressure and fear in various parts of the country" ("utilizado en reiteradas ocasiones al ejército como instrumento político para generar presión y miedo en diversos territorios del país"). [10]

Residents of the four municipalities under blockade told La Prensa Gráfica that the area had not had a gang problem in "more than six years" ("más de siete años"). [11] The Resistance and Popular Rebellion Bloc denounced the blockade as a "military invasion" ("invasión militar") and demanded the security forces' withdrawal. [12] The Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) questioned Bukele's involvement in organizing the blockade as he was granted a leave of absence in November 2023 in order to seek re-election in 2024; Bukele legally would not be able to order the blockade's implementation as Merino had confirmed Bukele did. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nayib Bukele</span> President of El Salvador since 2019

Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who has been the 81st president of El Salvador since 1 June 2019. As a member of the Nuevas Ideas political party, Bukele is the first Salvadoran president since 1989 who was not elected as a candidate of one of the country's two major political parties: the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) or the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), of which Bukele had previously been a member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Salvadoran legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in El Salvador on 18 February 2021. Salvadorans elected all 84 deputies of the Legislative Assembly, all 262 mayors of municipal councils of the country's municipalities, and all 20 of El Salvador's deputies to the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuevas Ideas</span> Political party in El Salvador

Nuevas Ideas is the ruling political party of El Salvador. The party was founded on 25 October 2017 by Nayib Bukele, the then-mayor of San Salvador, and was registered by the Supreme Electoral Court on 21 August 2018. The party's current president is Xavier Zablah Bukele, a cousin of Bukele who has served since March 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic in El Salvador was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached El Salvador on 18 March 2020. As of 19 September 2021, El Salvador reported 102,024 cases, 3,114 deaths, and 84,981 recoveries. As of that date El Salvador had arrested a total of 2,424 people for violating quarantine orders, and 1,268,090 people had been tested for the virus. On 31 March 2020, the first COVID-19 death in El Salvador was confirmed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Merino Monroy</span> Minister of Defense of El Salvador (2019–present)

René Francis Merino Monroy is a Salvadoran military officer who currently serves as the Minister of National Defense. He was appointed to the position by President Nayib Bukele in June 2019, becoming the first officer from the Salvadoran Navy to serve as minister of defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvadoran gang crackdown</span> Ongoing large-scale arrests of alleged gang members in El Salvador

The Salvadoran gang crackdown, known in El Salvador as the State of Exception or the War Against the Gangs, began on 27 March 2022 in response to a series of homicides committed by criminal gangs between 25 and 27 March 2022 which killed 87 people. After the killings, the Salvadoran government declared a state of emergency that suspended several constitutional rights and enabled the government to launch mass arrests of suspected gang members. The crackdown and state of emergency have since been extended 31 times as of 4 October 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airport of the Pacific</span> Planned airport in El Salvador

The Airport of the Pacific is a planned joint-use civilian international airport and military base that will be located in Conchagua, El Salvador. It will serve the city of La Unión and the planned Bitcoin City. The airport was proposed by Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele during his 2019 presidential campaign as a part of his Cuscatlán Plan and construction was approved by the Legislative Assembly on 26 April 2022. Preliminary terraforming began in March 2023 and construction is planned to begin in early 2025.

Opinion polling has been conducted in El Salvador since September 2019, three months after President Nayib Bukele took office on 1 June 2019, to gauge public opinion of Bukele and his government. Despite negative reception from outside of El Salvador, domestically, Bukele is considered to be one of the most popular presidents in Salvadoran history as his approval ratings generally hover around 90 percent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blockade of Soyapango</span> Event of the 2022 Salvadoran gang crackdown

The blockade of Soyapango was a Salvadoran government operation to arrest criminal gang members of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street gang in the city of Soyapango. The operation began on 3 December 2022 when Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced that 10,000 members of the country's security forces surrounded the city. As of January 2023 the active phase of the blockade has been completed; however, security forces are still engaged in removing gang related symbols and the security setup in the area has been enhanced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism Confinement Center</span> Prison in El Salvador

The Terrorism Confinement Center is a maximum security prison located in Tecoluca, El Salvador. The prison was built in late 2022 amidst a large-scale gang crackdown in El Salvador and was opened by the Salvadoran government in January 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Salvadoran protests</span> 2023 protests in El Salvador

Protests against re-election occurred in San Salvador, El Salvador on 1 May 2023 and 15 September 2023. In two protest marches, protesters marched from the Cuscatlán Park and the Rosales Hospital to the Gerardo Barrios Plaza in protest of the Salvadoran gang crackdown and President Nayib Bukele's re-election campaign. Protesters also demanded an increase in minimum wage and that the government respects the rights of syndicates and respects the constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blockade of Nueva Concepción</span> Anti-gang operation in El Salvador

The blockade of Nueva Concepción was an operation by the military and police of El Salvador against Mara Salvatrucha members operating in the town of Nueva Concepción. It began on 17 May 2023, one day after a police officer was ambushed and murdered by alleged gang members; in response to the killing, the government deployed 5,500 soldiers and officers to the municipality and announced an operation to search for the perpetrators and other gang members. Despite initially meager results, police announced on 26 May that the operation had led to the capture of fifty gang members, including the supposed killers and various gang leaders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blockade of the Cabañas Department</span> Salvadoran military operation

The blockade of the Cabañas Department was a military operation in El Salvador during the Salvadoran gang crackdown which started on 1 August 2023, when Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced that 7,000 soldiers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) and 1,000 police officers of the National Civil Police (PNC) had surrounded the department of Cabañas to capture gang members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osiris Luna Meza</span> Salvadoran politician

Osiris Luna Meza is a Salvadoran politician who currently serves as the General Director of Penal Centers and the Vice Minister of Justice and Public Security. He previously served as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly from the department of San Salvador from 2018 to 2019.

The Territorial Control Plan is an ongoing Salvadoran security and anti-gang program. The program consists of six phases and a potential seventh phase if phases one through six are unsuccessful. In 2019, the Salvadoran government estimated that the Territorial Control Plan would cost US$575.2 million in total.

Events in the year 2024 in El Salvador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustavo Villatoro</span> Salvadoran politician

Héctor Gustavo Villatoro Funes is a Salvadoran politician who currently serves as the Minister of Justice and Public Security. He was appointed by President Nayib Bukele in 2021. During Villatoro's term, he has overseen the Salvadoran gang crackdown which has since led to the arrests of over 74,000 alleged gang members as of 7 December 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alejandro Muyshondt</span> Salvadoran politician (1977–2024)

Jorge Alejandro Muyshondt Álvarez was a Salvadoran politician who served as a national security advisor to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele from 2019 to 2023. Muyshondt previously served as Bukele's security advisor from 2017 to 2019 while Bukele was mayor of San Salvador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauricio Arriaza Chicas</span> Salvadoran police officer (1964–2024)

Mauricio Antonio Arriaza Chicas was a Salvadoran police officer who served as the director of the National Civil Police (PNC) of El Salvador from 2019 until his death in a helicopter crash in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blockade of San Marcos</span> Blockade in El Salvador

The blockade of San Marcos is an operation by the Salvadoran government to arrest members of the criminal gangs of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Mara Barrio 18 in the district of San Marcos. The operation began on October 28, 2024, when the Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced that 2,500 members of the country's security forces surrounded the 10 de Octubre community.

References

  1. ↑ Bernal, David (2 April 2024). "Ministro de Seguridad Afirma que ya Suman 50 Capturas en Cerco de Chalatenango" [Minister of Security Affirms that the Arrests Total 50 in the Chalatenango Blockade]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  2. ↑ "El Salvador declares state of emergency after gang killings". Al Jazeera English . 28 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 Bernal, David (25 March 2024). "Ponen Cerco Militar en Chalatenango y Reportan Primeras dos Capturas" [They Place a Military Blockade in Chalatenango and Report the First Two Captures]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Hernández, Silvia (24 March 2024). "Pdte. Bukele Ordena Cerco Militar en Cuatro Distritos de Chalatenango Sur, Tras Homicidios" [President Bukele Orders Military Blockade in Four Districts of Chalatenango Sur, Following Homicides]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). El Salvador. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  5. ↑ "Despliegan 5,500 Militares y Policías en Cerco de Nueva Concepción Tras Asesinato de Agente" [5,500 Soldiers and Police Deployed in the Blockade of Nueva Concepción After Murder of Officer]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 18 May 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Torres, Édgar (24 March 2024). "Presidente Nayib Bukele Ordena Instalar Cerco de Seguridad en Zona Norte del País" [President Nayib Bukele Orders the Installation of a Security Zone in the North of the Country]. Diario la Huella (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 "Bukele Anuncia Capturas y Cerco Militar por Homicidios en Chalatenango" [Bukele Announces Arrests and Military Blockade in Chalatenango due to Homicides]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  8. ↑ Lemus, Lissette (25 March 2024). "Instalan Cerco Militar en Chalatenango Tras Dos Asesinatos" [They Install a Military Blockade in Chalatenango After Two Homicides]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  9. ↑ Cerón, Leonardo (25 March 2024). "Cristosal Llama a Respetar Integridad de Pobladores de Chalatenango "Obligados" a "Albergar Militares y Policías"" [Cristosal Calls to Respect the Integrity of Chalatenango Residents "Forced" to "House Military and Police"]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  10. ↑ Lemus, Lissette (26 March 2024). "Cristosal Advierte de Supuestas Capturas Arbitrarias en Cerco Militar de Chalatenango" [Cristosal Warns of Arbitrary Arrests in Chalatenango Military Blockade]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  11. ↑ Bernal, David (26 March 2024). ""Tenemos Más de Siete Años Sin Pandillas y Teníamos Muchos Años de no Reportar Hechos de Violencia": Habitantes en Cerco de Chalatenango" ["We Have More than Six Years Without Gangs and We Had Many Years Without Reporting Acts of Violence]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  12. ↑ Lemus, Lissette (26 March 2024). "Bloque de Izquierda Exige el Retiro de la Tropa en Cerco Militar de Chalatenango" [Leftist Bloc Demands the Withdrawal of Troops in the Chalatenango Military Blockade]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  13. ↑ Guzmán, Jessica (27 March 2024). "Ministro Dice Bukele Ordenó Cerco Militar; ARENA Cuestiona si Ejerce la Presidencia" [Minister Says Bukele Ordered the Military Blockade; ARENA Questions If He Controls the Presidency]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2024.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.