H. Rap Brown, former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), noted that violence is ingrained in America’s culture, “It is as American as cherry pie.” High homicide rates and gun violence are the dominant stereotypes in people’s minds when they envision the United States.
El Salvador, once notorious for being the most violent country in the world, has converted into one of the safest in the Western Hemisphere. This transformation can be attributed to the Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT), a maximum-security jail built by the Salvadoran government where inmates are never released.
“These are criminals, psychopaths, sociopaths inside terrorist structures. The worst of them are here,” the warden at CECOT noted.
In the pursuit of decreased violence, the U.S. should consider modeling incarceration after CECOT.
Congressman Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney general, will oversee the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Gaetz visited CECOT and announced the creation of the congressional El Salvador Caucus, which aims to strengthen U.S.-El Salvador relations and implement the methods used by President Nayib Bukele to transform his country.
The root of El Salvador’s violence extends beyond the deportation of Salvadorans from the United States that started in the 1980s. Gang violence has long been tied to the trends of poverty and inequality that have persisted since the country’s civil war. Prominent gangs control the cities, recruiting thousands of children, sometimes in exchange for better clothes or cigars. Due to a lack of educational and economic resources, many members join these gangs between the ages of 12 and 15.
In March 2022, at least 87 people were murdered, with Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs suspected of being involved. In response, President Bukele implemented a “mano dura” policy — which involves mass arrests of violent criminals under a state of emergency — in an attempt to win the war against organized crime in El Salvador.
In February 2023, President Bukele announced that the first 2,000 prisoners were transferred to CECOT. Unlike other confinements, prisoners admitted to CECOT remain there for life. CECOT serves as evidence of the means necessary to crack down on powerful organized crime. The success of the Bukele model can be found in its extreme emphasis on incarceration, which shuts down all suspected gang activity and directly decreases violence.
At his reelection inauguration, President Bukele stated, “We are now the safest country in the Western Hemisphere,” citing his success in transforming the country away from violence.
U.S. politicians should use Bukele’s approach to battling violent crime and gang organization as a guide for cracking down on the U.S.’s uncontrolled crime rates. The historical lows in El Salvador’s crime rates were the result of drastic changes such as the creation of CECOT and the reshaping of the judiciary. The U.S. should take similar great measures to see drastic change.
Crime rates persist in the U.S. because the nature of American laws is tolerant of behaviors that induce violence. Among Western countries, the United States is the only country where ordinary citizens can purchase and possess handguns and semi-automatic firearms. In major U.S. cities, gangs are responsible for most violent crimes. Whether maintaining drug distribution or targeting rival gangs, violence is inherent within gang activity.
Seeking a sense of belonging while marginalized leads many adolescents to turn to gangs for a sense of identity. As a result of neighborhood dynamics such as poverty, many adolescents in the U.S. have no choice but to be coerced into joining gangs.
Although El Salvador saw a significant decrease in crime, under the State of Exception, Bukele suspended constitutional rights such as freedom of application and due process. The incredible achievement of mass arrests came with the sacrifice of individuals’ rights and thousands of innocent lives. The Salvadoran police estimate that one in six arrested are innocent. José Duval Mata, for example, was arrested on his way home for “illicit association” with a gang, although he has never been involved. Over-achieving practices of arresting have become a widespread norm under the state of emergency.
Human rights should never be irreversibly stripped from a human, as observed in CECOT. BBC notes that Mr. Bukele’s critics consider CECOT “a black hole of human rights.” The question arises whether people deserve mercy, regardless of the severity of their crimes.
The U.S. should not go as far as disregarding due process or over-arresting civilians — they should not risk the arrest of hundreds of innocent people to save lives. However, the attitude for making significant changes should be modeled.
Taryn Ogasawara is an Opinion Staff Writer. She can be reached at ogasawat@uci.edu.
Edited by Ben De Guzman.
