After months of remaining the star of official propaganda and surveys, security gave way to the economy, according to a study titled “Citizen Evaluation of Municipal Management 2023” by the Center for Public Opinion Studies (CEOP) of the Guillermo Manuel Ungo Foundation (Fundaungo).
Seven out of 10 respondents said the cost of living has increased in the last three months and that the economy is their main concern, although security has not ceased to be the main card with which President Nayib Bukele is seeking re-election. a ballot paper shaped by the consultations.
Likewise, 88.5 percent of those surveyed in the sample assumed that there would be an increase in the price of the basic basket, which in recent months exceeded 250 US dollars, a value never reached in the urban area, and which would affect the could impact ballot boxes in 2024. .
When it comes to the most serious issue facing their community, about four in ten people (41.6 percent) cited economic issues as the most pressing, and two in ten (22 percent) cited issues with the quality of services.
However, El Salvador’s economy has an estimated growth of 2.6 percent, resulting from a decline in exports and an increase in remittances.
The official forecast is closest to the 2.1 percent expected by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) or the 2.4 percent assumed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On the issue of security, a report by the publication Insight Crime raised questions about the effectiveness of government measures and found that despite the arrest of more than 72,000 gang members, including 1,230 ringleaders, around 43,000 are still at large. “sleeping” or hiding in rural areas.
The fact that only 1,230 are leaders of various levels of the MS-13 gangs and the two factions of the 18 are among the prisoners attracts attention and reminds us of these groups’ relationships with Al-Front terrorists years ago. Nusra and the so-called Islamic State, whose cover-up techniques could be those of the so-called gangs.
On the other hand, the question of whether or not to maintain the emergency regime to eliminate the scourge of gangs is a growing question that has given rise to different interpretations, analysts estimate, when assessing their confrontation and the need to maintain the suppression of constitutional guarantees.
El Salvador’s Defense Minister René Merino reiterated that it is necessary to continue the emergency regime to confront the gangs.
ro/lb