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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/29/el-salvador-state-of-emergency-prisons-gang-violence
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| El Salvador declares state of emergency at seven prisons in gang crackdown | El Salvador declares state of emergency at seven prisons in gang crackdown |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| El Salvador has declared a state of emergency at seven prisons and transferred 299 high-ranking gang members at the start of “extraordinary measures” that the government has promised to take against gangs. | El Salvador has declared a state of emergency at seven prisons and transferred 299 high-ranking gang members at the start of “extraordinary measures” that the government has promised to take against gangs. |
| A package of additional measures was to be presented to the legislature on Wednesday. | |
| Mauricio Ramírez Landaverde, the minister of justice and public security, said at a news conference that the targeted gang leaders were transferred to a prison 25km (about 15 miles) west of the capital. | |
| The emergency declaration puts inmates on lockdown and suspends family visits for 15 days. | The emergency declaration puts inmates on lockdown and suspends family visits for 15 days. |
| “They are going to be subjected to a higher security regimen, with greater control to make sure communication from inside the prison system is stopped,” Ramírez said. “They have been identified as those most involved in communicating with the outside, in directing and coordinating illegal activities of the criminal groups.” | |
| He said mixed units of police and soldiers will handle security inside and outside El Salvador’s prisons. | He said mixed units of police and soldiers will handle security inside and outside El Salvador’s prisons. |
| Related: The gangs of El Salvador: inside the prison the guards are too afraid to enter | Related: The gangs of El Salvador: inside the prison the guards are too afraid to enter |
| President Salvador Sánchez Cerén said earlier this month that he was considering steps to combat gang violence. His administration has roundly rejected an apparent weekend offer by the gangs for negotiations. | |
| A video message from masked men claiming to represent the country’s three most powerful street gangs said they had told their members to stop killing. In exchange, they demanded that the government not proceed with the measures to combat the gangs. | A video message from masked men claiming to represent the country’s three most powerful street gangs said they had told their members to stop killing. In exchange, they demanded that the government not proceed with the measures to combat the gangs. |
| On Tuesday, the presidential spokesman, Eugenio Chicas, said the administration would present an initial package of “extraordinary measures” to the legislature on Wednesday. They could include deploying more soldiers in a security role, declaring states of emergency in conflict zones and imposing stiff fines on phone companies that Chicas said have refused to lower cellphone signal strength around prisons. | |
| He said the measures would “guarantee the population’s security and be a hard blow against criminality”. | |
| Chicas acknowledged that homicides had dropped significantly since the release of the gang video. However, he said it was just a way for the gangs to put a gun to the populace’s head, threatening to resume killings if the government doesn’t negotiate. | Chicas acknowledged that homicides had dropped significantly since the release of the gang video. However, he said it was just a way for the gangs to put a gun to the populace’s head, threatening to resume killings if the government doesn’t negotiate. |