By Nelson Renteria
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – El Salvador’s attorney general on Friday said he plans to investigate allegations that the government of President Nayib Bukele is negotiating with members of a notorious gang to reduce homicides.
When the number of homicides in the poor Central American country started to drop, international observers suggested it might be down to “quiet, informal understandings between the gangs and the government”.
“Of course we are going to investigate,” Raul Melara told local television after local newspaper El Faro published documents alleging dealings with a gang. “No one should take advantage of the institutions to negotiate with terrorists.”
Official prison documents that were not previously made public detail how the government of Bukele has been negotiating with the leaders of the powerful Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, the paper said.
The gang would reduce violence in exchange for better prison conditions, El Faro said. The two sides have also discussed MS-13 support for the government in legislative elections next year, the paper said.
Reuters could not independently verify the contents of the documents. The presidency did not respond to a request for comment.
Osiris Luna, El Salvador’s director of prisons who El Faro documents allege is involved in the negotiations, said the allegations were not true and termed them “political maneuvering”.
Murder rates have dropped significantly under Bukele’s government, which assumed power in June 2019. Homicides have dropped 56% between January and September this year, compared with the same period in 2019.
Bukele has in the past attributed the drop to an increased police and military presence on streets and tighter security in gang-controlled jails.
So far, several current and former officials of parties across the spectrum have been investigated and prosecuted for past alleged agreements with gangs in exchange for benefits and electoral support.
(Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Alistair Bell)
