San Salvador, March 16 (Prensa Latina) Many people in El Salvador feel safer today than they did years ago, according to a survey.
The latest research, conducted by LPG Datos, La Prensa Gráfica’s social investigation department, provides elements on how respondents feel in their homes and in public places such as parks, city markets and even on buses.
According to respondents, this sense of greater security began after 2015 and was prolonged from 2019 with the application of the Territorial Control Plan and reinforced in 2022 with the exemption, extended for the twelfth time by the Legislative Assembly the previous day. Despite all the progress made in fighting gangs, the sample revealed that the state is one of the main aggressors against citizens.
The survey found that 3.7 percent of Salvadorian families had been affected by crime in the past three months.
The majority of citizens have become victims of property crimes (51.8 percent), the most common cases are robberies, thefts and assaults on public roads, LPG found.
In second place, according to the investigations, are crimes related to freedom (26.8 percent). The main complaints are arbitrary arrests, abuse of office and threats.
In 2015, feelings of insecurity in homes and public spaces began to decrease, and the trend is continuing. That year, for example, 81.1 percent of people felt unsafe when traveling by bus, while the sample now found that only 11.8 percent express this feeling.
The pollster highlighted that the semblance of greater security that began in 2015 has been accentuated during the current government, reaching its best numbers despite criticism of its performance and in some cases after three years and nine months of Nayib Bukele’s government and constitutional rights.
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