Land declares state of emergency after 62 murders in one day

More than 60 people have been killed in a day of mass killings in El Salvador, forcing the country’s president to declare a state of emergency.

The grim death toll of Saturday of 62 followed on Friday the murders of 14 other people in gang-related murders.

The country’s Congress approved President Nayib Bukele’s call for a state of emergency early Sunday after the violence, which is arguably the worst in years.

The 76 deaths over two days compared to 79 murders in the entire February.

The killings are thought to be ordered by the Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 gang, police said, adding that they caught five of its leaders.

The country’s infamous street gangs effectively control several neighborhoods in the capital, San Salvador, where armed police and soldiers patrol the streets.

The gangs have destroyed the recent history of the Central American country, making the country one of the worst crime rates in the world.

The decree suspends constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly and loosens arrest rules for as many as 30 days – though that can be extended.

The remarks seemed to be a reference to a December report by the US Treasury which claimed that Mr Bukele’s government was secretly negotiating a ceasefire with gang leaders.

The US government claims that Mr Bukele’s government bought the gangs’ support with financial benefits and privileges for their prison leaders, including prostitutes and mobile phones.

The explosive allegations have damaged the president, who has made much of a dent in the country’s murder figures and denied the allegations efforts when they were reported in August 2020.