El Salvador
Nayib Bukele’s Recipe Against Gangs That Failed In Honduras: ‘We’re Safer Because Mara Salvatrucha Rules Here’
In the Rivera Hernández neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the government’s failed attempt to implement repressive measures against gangs similar to those imposed by Nayib Bukele in El Salvador is evident. At the entrance to this neighborhood, a taxi driver who asks to be identified as Mr. Jota explains the new nuances of his work: “Look, what we pay is no longer called extortion. It’s called ‘use of facilities.’ If you use the taxi stand, you have to pay the gang. If you don’t use it, you don’t pay. It’s that simple.” Mr. Jota lives in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Honduras and, for almost 50 years, he has witnessed gang violence firsthand. Now, he says, Rivera Hernández is one of the “safest” places in the country. The reason, however, seems contradictory: “Now we’re safer because Mara Salvatrucha [MS-13] rules here,” he says.
Honduras has historically been one of the most murderous countries in Latin America, and the Rivera Hernández neighborhood in San Pedro Sula is considered the most telling example of that violence. In 2014, the city reached a rate of 140 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, 14 times what the World Health Organization considers an epidemic. However, since that peak, homicides in the neighborhood have steadily declined, in line with the national trend, reaching a rate of 25 homicides in the last year. “Now you can walk around here peacefully. You don’t see gang members anymore. Now there are surveillance cameras in the neighborhoods. They have everything under control from a command center, but in a more professional way,” says Jota.
On December 6, 2022, following a surge in extortion reports, then-President Xiomara Castro imposed a state of emergency similar to that of El Salvador, restricting rights and deploying the army in the streets. However, according to official sources, the operation did not target gang leaders, nor did it include mass raids, capture key figures, or reform the justice system as in El Salvador. Although homicides have decreased, sources agree that this is not due to the state of emergency, but rather to internal decisions within the gang.
“Here, the gangs are more organized. There [in El Salvador], they killed just for the sake of killing. Here, they operate like a business. Here, if you join MS-13, it’s said that you work for MS-13. You’re an employee of MS-13. You, for example, manage businesses for them, a car wash, a restaurant, or you collect extortion payments and answer to your bosses. MS-13 isn’t so much interested in killing anymore, but in the business,” said a high-ranking military officer with intelligence duties.
The drop in homicides in Honduras coincided with the consolidation of MS-13’s criminal hegemony after eliminating its rivals. For example, in 2010, about a dozen rival gangs operated in the Rivera Hernández sector, but by February 2016, MS-13 had wiped them all out. “Now there are only about four or five small neighborhoods left that belong to the Barrio 18 gang: Kitur, Cerrito Lindo, Satélite… not many more. That’s why MS-13 now operates more surgically. They’re not going to kill a bunch of people to make a big fuss. They’re going to be selective. They know who they’re targeting,” said a former MS-13 founder on condition of anonymity.
The failure of the state of emergency in Honduras is reflected, for example, in the 48 mass killings recorded in its first two years, with 220 victims, including the massacre of 46 women in the Támara prison in June 2023, the worst in a women’s prison in recent Latin American history. “On the very first day [of the state of emergency], they kidnapped three boys from this neighborhood, put them in the trunk of a car, drove past some soldiers, and nobody did anything,” says Jota.
The Honduran state of emergency was renewed 24 times and expired on January 26, the day before Nasry Asfura’s inauguration. The outgoing government did not present an assessment of the measure, and its expiry went almost unnoticed on the streets.
A failed attempt
On February 14, Bukele shared a video in which the Honduran Minister of Security stated that the Salvadoran model “applies to certain conditions” and “is not a recipe” that can be replicated in all countries. Bukele reacted angrily and accused the minister of defending the “human rights” of criminals. His message sparked criticism on social media, primarily directed at the Honduran government. “I had remained silent because I know that many of my Honduran brothers and sisters expect the new government to do something about security… Thousands of Hondurans will die because of these people,” he wrote.
The state of emergency in El Salvador began on March 27, 2022, after gangs orchestrated a massacre that left 87 people dead over the course of a weekend. This occurred amid a downward trend in homicides and at the same time as a triumphalist speech by President Bukele, who attributed the decrease to the effects of his “Territorial Control” security plan which, according to him, consisted of seven secret phases. Later, journalistic reports and investigations by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office indicated that Bukele, in reality, maintained a pact with the gangs.
Since its implementation, the Salvadoran government has detained nearly 90,000 people without trial over almost four years and has dismantled gang structures like no previous administration. The cost has been high: some 470 deaths in prisons and thousands of complaints of torture and arbitrary detentions, according to human rights organizations.
Since then, many Latin American politicians have sought to emulate the measure as if it were a surefire formula for success. Xiomara Castro replicated a regime similar to that of El Salvador. The Honduran government reported 70,000 arrests in July 2025, but without specifying how many were linked to gangs or how many resulted in convictions. Between 2022 and 2025, 924 complaints of police abuse were registered, in addition to investigations into enforced disappearances and allegations of torture.
According to the military source, one of the factors that prevented the state of emergency in Honduras from functioning as it did in El Salvador was the limitations placed on security forces. “Here, you can’t arrest anyone just for the sake of it, nor can you conduct mass raids on thousands of people. We don’t have that legal capacity,” the source said.
Sources indicate that MS-13 in Honduras no longer relies primarily on extortion, but is involved in national drug distribution and money laundering, so fighting gangs would also mean fighting drug trafficking, a more powerful force in the region.
In his inaugural address on January 27, President Asfura listed the main problems to be addressed during his term: unemployment, the centralization of the state, and healthcare. He made no mention of gangs or drug trafficking. This omission is significant, because after a state of emergency that failed to dismantle criminal structures or sever their ties to drug trafficking, the challenge his government now faces is more complex and profound. One need only look at Rivera Hernández, the notorious neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, where security is not guaranteed by the state, but by the Mara Salvatrucha gang, which has become a highly successful organization.
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CECOT
Félix Ulloa, Vice President Of El Salvador: ‘People Want Bukele’s State Of Emergency; They Feel Protected’
On his third visit to Spain as vice president of El Salvador, Félix Ulloa, 74, divides the world into those who oppose Nayib Bukele and those who support him.
The lawyer, who was born in the city of Chinameca, arrives at a sweet moment for his country. El Salvador has become a pawn (or perhaps a bishop) in the Trump administration’s continental strategy. “The country isn’t the same as it was in 2019 or 2022,” he asserts, during an interview with EL PAÍS that was held on Wednesday, February 18, at the Casa de América cultural center in Madrid. As a summary of President Bukele’s six years in office, he cites security, economic growth, Shakira’s recent concert, the more than four million tourists annually, as well as over 100 pristine beaches for surf lovers.
However, in the last four years, the Central American country has lived under a state of emergency, which has been marked by nearly 100,000 arrests, human rights reports about torture and abuse, persecution of journalists and critical voices, as well as state participation in Donald Trump’s mass deportations.
In Madrid, where he met with business leaders, lawyers and conservative politicians, Ulloa defended the constitutional reform that, last August, endorsed the president’s indefinite reelection and paved the way for Bukele to run for a third term.
Question. The year began in Latin America with the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. special forces. And now, we’re witnessing the economic strangulation of Cuba. How are these changes being viewed from El Salvador?
Answer. President Bukele is in charge of foreign policy. I can speak about [El Salvador]: I’m not familiar with his [foreign policy] agenda.
Q. Bukele supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó at one point and spoke out against the regimes of Maduro and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega.
A. I discuss development and the economy with the president, as well as law and institutions. We talk about El Salvador.
Q. El Salvador has joined Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace.” Bukele is scheduled to meet with the U.S. president in Miami on March 7, at a regional summit alongside the leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras and Paraguay. What does he hope to achieve?
A. He’s been invited, yes. But I insist that I’m not going to talk about foreign policy.
Q. Then let’s talk about El Salvador and the fourth anniversary of the imposition of the state of emergency, which began in March of 2022.
A. Let’s talk about achievements. If you’re going to ask me about some journalist from El Faro (a media outlet critical of the government, now operating in exile in Costa Rica), that’s just a broken record.
Q. El Salvador’s economy grew by 3.5% in 2025, according to the World Bank. Bukele remains popular: there are early legislative and presidential elections scheduled for 2027. And the president has said that he plans to be reelected until 2033.
A. [It’s actually] 4%, according to our figures. And he’s not going to be “reelected” [just like that]: he’s going to run again.
Q. Reelection wasn’t contemplated in the Salvadoran Constitution.
A. But [the Constitution] was changed.
Q. Isn’t that the same thing Hugo Chávez did when he was president of Venezuela, and who was criticized by El Salvador?
A. It’s the same thing that’s done by the Socialist Party or the People’s Party in Spain when they call early elections: they run for [another term]. The difference is that Spain has a parliamentary democracy, while ours is presidential.
Q. In Spain, there are no term limits. And the Constitution hasn’t been amended.
A. That’s what the people decided [in El Salvador]. When the people grew tired of the two parties that governed them for 30 years, they gave Bukele a majority in 2019 and again in 2024.
Q. Did the Salvadoran people trade freedom for security?
A. Have 97% given up freedom, or only 3%? Who do we believe? Last week’s poll by the newspaper La Prensa Gráfica says that 91.9% of Salvadorans approve of Bukele’s administration and that more than 90% want the state of emergency to continue. And the European newspapers are always against it. Who do we listen to?
Q. Putin also had high approval ratings at one point…
A. And Xi Jinping has served three terms in China.
Q. China doesn’t seem like a typical democracy.
A. You’re wrong. In China, there’s what I call a consultative democracy. It’s not European democracy, but it works for them. Why is China at the top right now? Because they’re doing well. What is it that people want? To be like Spain, which is in a terrible state? When European and American newspapers criticize Bukele, what they’re really criticizing is a model that regional policymakers are seeing as a solution to many of their problems. The opinion of an academic or a journalist isn’t the same as that of someone who makes decisions.
Pope Francis said that the case of El Salvador should be viewed from the perspective of the lives that have been saved. How many people would have died if the gangs had continued killing? What about the human rights of 80% of the population, of the families who were left orphaned? Which media outlet is talking about that?
Q. More than four years after being the first country to adopt it as legal tender, Bitcoin has depreciated. And the fate of the famous “Bitcoin City” that El Salvador planned to open is unknown.
A. It remains official currency, but taxes can no longer be paid with it. We’re building the new airport – which is 40% complete – with a Spanish company. A city will be built around it, [consisting of] hotels, housing, etc… and that will be the Bitcoin City, located at the foot of the Conchagua volcano.
Q. The toll of the four years of the state of emergency – according to organizations like Socorro Jurídico Humanitario (translated as Humanitarian Legal Assistance) – is nearly 100,000 detainees (in a country of six million) and more than 470 deaths in prisons. And around 8,000 prisoners have turned out to be innocent, with no connections to gangs.
A. Have they published the lists of the dead? They can say 600, 200, 300, 100…
Q. Venezuelan prisoners – who were detained in the Terrrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) mega-prison, after an agreement was made with Trump to imprison alleged members of criminal gangs – have made allegations of torture.
A. That was Maduro’s propaganda. CNN published a photo of an alleged torture victim. The guy walked onto the plane and, when he arrived in Venezuela, they took him out in a wheelchair. It’s all a setup. There’s no torture in El Salvador: the proof is that the International Committee of the Red Cross investigates the [detention] centers.
Q. Latin American history is full of strongmen, of caudillos. This trend appears to be returning. Isn’t there a danger that the new leaders will be very similar to the old dictators?
A. Freedom and security must be accompanied by the well-being of the people. I fought against a dictatorship because it was a military regime imposed [on us] by force. In El Salvador, there’s a democracy; the people vote freely and elect a man who has strong leadership. Our model combines democracy and strong leadership. The people [hold us accountable]. If Bukele starts making mistakes, he’ll see his approval rating plummet.
Q. But you’re going to hold elections under a state of emergency. You’re a lawyer… how can anyone vote like that?
A. Well, by voting like [we did] in 2024. The state of emergency only affects people involved in crime; it doesn’t affect ordinary people. The press criticizes us, but everywhere, people want a Bukele.
Q. Where?
A. In Latin America. And also in Europe. If criminals want to live in a five-star hotel, they’re very mistaken. When you govern and a small group is taking away all of society’s rights, what’s your priority? It’s not the same looking at these problems from the comfort of your living room. We said that we were going to [impose order]. And we have. Happiness has returned to the communities: children are laughing again and going to the park, people carry their cell phones in [public]… they’ve gotten their lives back. The most important human right is life.
Q. If the results are so positive, are you going to lift the state of emergency?
A. The people want it. They feel protected.
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Aborto
La Agrupación Por La Despenalización Del Aborto Se Disuelve En El Salvador Por La “involución” De Derechos Humanos Bajo El Régimen De Bukele
La Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto, la única ONG en El Salvador dedicada a defender el derecho de las mujeres a decidir durante el embarazo, anunció este lunes su disolución legal en medio de lo que describe como una profundización de la crisis de derechos humanos bajo el gobierno de Nayib Bukele. La organización con más de 20 años de trabajo en el país informó de que a partir de ahora su defensa de los derechos de las mujeres continuará “desde el activismo, la empatía y la solidaridad que hemos sembrado”.
Morena Herrera, expresidenta de la Agrupación, aseguró que durante los seis años y medio de gestión de Bukele el país ha vivido una “involución” en la protección de los derechos de las mujeres, lo que ha generado un entorno “incompatible” con su labor. “El Gobierno ha adoptado desde hace algún tiempo una posición muy conservadora en la que los derechos de las mujeres están negados. Se nos ha cortado toda comunicación con el Ministerio de Salud, Educación e incluso con la Policía, con quienes coordinábamos para denunciar casos de abuso sexual”, dijo Herrera.
La oenegé ha sido históricamente la única organización en El Salvador que ha impulsado la despenalización del aborto. En las últimas dos décadas logró la liberación de 81 mujeres condenadas por este delito desde 2009 hasta la fecha. Entre sus casos más emblemáticos está el de Beatriz, una mujer a quien el sistema de salud salvadoreño obligó en 2013 a continuar un embarazo de un feto con anencefalia que ponía en riesgo su vida. El caso llegó hasta la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, que en diciembre de 2024 condenó al Estado salvadoreño. Beatriz murió en 2017, por lo que la sentencia fue considerada una reparación póstuma.
La disolución de la organización es, según activistas, un síntoma más de la crisis que enfrentan las organizaciones defensoras de derechos humanos y las libertades en El Salvador. Solo en 2025 más de 50 periodistas, activistas y defensores de derechos humanos abandonaron el país por temor a represalias. Ese mismo año entró en vigor la Ley de Agentes Extranjeros, que obliga a las organizaciones que reciben financiamiento internacional a inscribirse en un registro nacional y a entregar el 30% de sus ingresos al Estado.
“Pensamos que la Agrupación ya no puede funcionar con la estructura de una ONG. Decidimos disolvernos y seguir luchando por la causa desde el activismo, como un movimiento regional, pero ya no legalmente”, explicó Herrera.
La “involución” de Bukele
Antes de llegar a la Presidencia, Bukele sostenía un discurso progresista y durante la campaña se definió como “aliado” de la comunidad LGTBI. También prometió crear condiciones de apoyo para mujeres víctimas de violencia obstétrica y acusadas de aborto. Sin embargo, ya en el poder disolvió las secretarías de Estado creadas para la defensa de estos derechos.
Según Herrera, en los seis años y medio de Gobierno 27 mujeres más han sido procesadas acusadas de aborto, muchas de ellas tras sufrir emergencias obstétricas, es decir, abortos espontáneos. “Ya habíamos logrado sacar a todas de la cárcel, pero con este proceso de involución hay nuevamente una situación punitiva”, afirmó.
“Este señor ha cambiado su posición. Cuando era alcalde de Nuevo Cuscatlán (2012-2015) hizo algunos mensajes de apoyo al caso de Beatriz. Pero luego ha ido involucionando y ahora está en una posición en la que niega cualquier posibilidad de que las mujeres puedan decidir”, añadió.
En mayo de 2021, cuando el oficialismo obtuvo el control absoluto de la Asamblea Legislativa, una de sus primeras decisiones fue archivar una propuesta para despenalizar el aborto impulsada por organizaciones feministas desde 2016. La iniciativa contemplaba permitirlo cuando la vida de la mujer estuviera en riesgo, en casos de violación o ante malformaciones fetales incompatibles con la vida extrauterina.
En agosto de ese mismo año, Bukele presentó una propuesta de reforma constitucional en la que descartó cualquier posibilidad de legalizar el aborto. “He decidido, para que no quede ninguna duda, no proponer ningún tipo de reforma a ningún artículo que tenga que ver con el derecho a la vida (desde el momento de la concepción), con el matrimonio (manteniendo únicamente el diseño original, un hombre y una mujer), o con la eutanasia”, escribió en su cuenta de X.
A finales de 2025, el Gobierno ordenó eliminar el lenguaje inclusivo y todo el contenido de educación sexual del sistema educativo.
Herrera sostuvo que la lucha continuará desde el activismo y que no abandonarán a las mujeres que siguen siendo procesadas. “Nuestra lucha nunca ha sido fácil. Fuimos la única asociación que históricamente ha defendido este derecho. No podemos ni queremos renunciar a esta causa”, concluyó.
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