What comes to your mind when you hear the name "El Salvador"? Violence, crime, homicides, kidnapping, gangs? If so, you're certainly not alone.

El Salvador has had a reputation for being an extremely dangerous country for decades, and was probably close to last on your list of tourist destinations.

Perilous Past

These rumors you heard about El Salvador are not false. The country was indeed a very dangerous place to be up until just a few years ago.

Locals have told me that they would have their phones stolen from them in broad daylight, gangs would extort passengers on local buses, and driving into the wrong neighborhood could have gotten you killed.

These are the types of people that nobody wants roaming around freely in society, and Donald Trump made it clear in two recent speeches that these criminals are not welcome in the United States.

https://x.com/AFpost/status/1814796595818316222

First of all, I'll say that I do trust Trump more after the failed assassination attempt, but I cannot understand why he is accusing Bukele of sending violent criminals to America.

The War on Gangs

Bukele escalated his crackdown on the gangs in 2022, after they went on a killing spree murdering close to 100 innocent Salvadorans over a single weekend.

The police were sent to the most dangerous areas of El Salvador (like Soyapango and Apopa), where they rounded up all the gang members and sent them to a new prison facility called CECOT (The Center for the Confinement of Terrorism).

Trump is claiming that Bukele is sending Salvadoran criminals to America, instead of to prisons in El Salvador.

Now I cannot be 100% certain, but I can verify from talking to locals that the gang members were in fact sent to this prison, along with some innocent people who unfortunately ended up there too. There is plenty of video footage of gangsters incarcerated there.

Did some of the gang members get away during the mass arrests? Of course. You cannot catch 70,000 criminals without a few falling through the cracks, and escaping the country.

That's where America's border patrol officers come in. Their job is to filter out the dangerous migrants from the peaceful ones, but in recent years they have been letting anybody and everybody in without any vetting. That isn't El Salvador's fault.

The Irony

The ironic thing about Trump's statement is that, if you do the research, you will learn that it was actually America who dumped the violence gangs in El Salvador, and now Bukele is having to lock them up in prisons.

In fact, since Bukele started his crackdown on the gangs El Salvador has transitioned from the most dangerous country in the world, to the safest in the western hemisphere. Is this reality making some leaders envious?

In my personal experience, El Salvador is a secure country. You can walk down the streets peacefully, without even having to worry about verbal harassment. Apparently that's what happens when you lock away violent criminals, instead of letting them roam free.

WTF

Why is Trump claiming that Bukele is sending its criminals to America, when they are imprisoned right here in El Salvador?

Is he receiving false information from his advisors? Is it because El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, despite criticism from the US? Is he jealous of the great press Bukele got for securing his country with a tough stance on crime?

In any case, Trump will need to present evidence of El Salvador sending its criminals to America, instead of just throwing around groundless accusations.

If you found this article interesting, be sure to check out my other posts on crypto and finance here on the HIVE blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.

Until next time...

Resources

Image of Cecot prison [1]

Is El Salvador Dumping Violent Criminals In America?

Perilous Past

The War on Gangs

The Irony

WTF

Further Reading

Resources