Nayib Bukele and Mauricio Arriaza Chicas during a police ceremony in San Salvador September 30, 2020. JOSE CABEZAS (Portal)
Nayib Bukele’s government has intensified its crackdown on journalists. This Tuesday, the director of the Salvadoran police, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, reported that the reporters denouncing and investigating the secret negotiations between the government of then President Mauricio Funes and the Maras, the gangs that spread terror in the Central American country , will be prosecuted. , where they controlled large areas. The so-called “ceasefire” was agreed in 2012 and made it possible to reduce the level of violence in El Salvador at the time. “These political leaders, like some journalists who were there too [tregua] “Those responsible for justice and law enforcement policy will show them at any time at the judicial level,” Arriaza warned. “They must respond to the actions where they apologized for the crime and caused aggravating things or circumstances to affect the Salvadoran people,” the official said.
At the end of May, the Salvadoran judiciary sentenced former President Funes to 14 years in prison for negotiating the so-called ceasefire with the gangs during his term in office (2009-2014). Funes sought refuge in Nicaragua in 2016, where he enjoys the protection of Daniel Ortega, who granted him Nicaraguan nationality. In addition to the former President, David Munguía Payés, former Minister of Justice and Security, was also sentenced to 18 years in prison. “Former officials allowed the gangs to strengthen economically and territorially in exchange for lowering the homicide rate between 2011 and 2013 to help the government in power and favor it in elections,” it said in the prosecutor’s indictment.
The disclosure of negotiations between the government and the gangs sparked a political scandal in El Salvador, a country steeped in brutal violence. The leaks put the Funes board under pressure at a time when corruption scandals surrounding the president were also becoming known. The digital broadcaster El Faro was one of the first to denounce the negotiations and thus became the focus of government criticism. “The Police Director announces that they will take action against journalists who covered the ceasefire. This country would not have seen the truce without journalism and the many pacts that followed, including that of the Bukele government. This is a scandal!” wrote journalist Óscar Martínez, editor-in-chief of El Faro, on Twitter.
The police director announces that he will take action against journalists who reported on the ceasefire. This country would not have seen the truce without journalism and the many pacts that followed, including that of the Bukele government. That’s rude! https://t.co/y8W8Fxxn9k
— Oscar Martinez (@CronistaOscar) June 6, 2023
Arriaza assured in a television program this Tuesday that the Salvadoran judiciary will take action against politicians and reporters who covered these negotiations. Although the official did not name any reporters, he warned that “they are in the arena.” This is a new attack by the Bukele regime against the independent press in El Salvador. The president focused his criticism on media outlets such as El Faro, which have published negotiations between the current government and the gangs. Due to the prosecution against him, the station’s newsroom decided to shift its administrative activities to Costa Rica. “Our newsroom will continue to be based in San Salvador and we will continue to do journalistic work in El Salvador. But our administrative and legal operations no longer. We are now a Central American newspaper based in San Jose. “It is the culmination of a process that we initiated a few months ago because there were no conditions in El Salvador to continue our activities,” El Faro reported in mid-April.
Arriaza’s announcement comes as Bukele has launched a bloody war against the gangs that has seen 68,000 people arrested so far. Bukele has imposed an emergency regime for a year, which has been sharply criticized by human rights organizations, which have said the human rights of the detainees have been violated.
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