Currently, more than 10,000 soldiers and police are taking part in the siege of the Tutunichapa and La Granjita communities in San Salvador, which follows similar measures in Comasagua and Soyapango, as part of the PCT’s V phase, which has been ongoing since March, shrouded in the exceptional regime that was imposed suspends several constitutional guarantees.
This Tuesday, the arrests of two suspected gang members in Cabañas department, who were carrying two assault rifles (an AK-47 and an M-16), a handgun, marijuana and cartridges for the weapons, made headlines.
According to police, the suspects have had criminal records since 2015 on allegations of possession and possession of drugs and illegal groups.
Authorities said those arrested face criminal charges for “possessing, carrying and driving weapons of war, illegal possession of firearms, illegal drug trafficking and illegal groups.”
Just a week ago, according to their own statements, two suspected gang members who belonged to the MS-13 gang and were carrying a rifle with a telescopic sight, which snipers use for attacks, were arrested in the department of Morazán.
A pistol and 60 cartridges were also confiscated from the prisoners. The two were charged with illegal possession and carrying of firearms and illegal grouping.
Meanwhile, Diario Hoy quoted human rights defenders as saying that the siege operations were “an authoritarian measure”.
Criminal lawyer and Central American University professor Oswaldo Feusier told El Diario de Hoy that it is a fundamental characteristic of any authoritarian regime “to respond to any problem, reaction or dissidence with the issue of the armed forces.”
According to her, that is exactly what the Salvadoran ruling party is doing in these communities. “From the moment when the armed forces are considered the primary and permanent mechanism of public life, the measure acquires typical characteristics of an authoritarian state that seeks to solve all its main problems with weapons, the militia, armed force and the army,” said Feusier .
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