September 20, 2022, will be enshrined in gold letters in Salvadoran history as it is the date on which the security authorities reached the historic figure of 200 days without reporting any deaths due to violence throughout the country.
«We closed on September 20 with 0 homicides, and with this, we already added 200 days free of violence in El Salvador since the government of our President, Nayib Bukele, began. Could it be that the opposition has not yet seen this data? Well, hopefully later, yes », published the Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro, on his Twitter account.
For his part, the director of the police, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, highlighted the work carried out by all the institutions in charge of ensuring public safety to achieve 200 days without homicides in just over three years.
“Protecting the lives of Salvadorans deserves every effort. The articulated work of the Security Cabinet led by President Nayib Bukele continues to give irrefutable results,” said Arriaza Chicas.
With the record figures that the authorities are registering, September could equal July and August, which closed with 21 days with zero homicides each, and become one of the safest months in the country’s history.
Of the 20 days that have elapsed this month, 13 have been without murders on a national scale. In addition, seven have been hit consecutively between 7 and 13.
The days without homicides reported by the police during September are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, and 20.
Both President Bukele and the authorities in charge of ensuring public security attribute the results of the drop in homicides to the successful execution of the Territorial Control Plan (PCT) and the emergency regime.
The first day that was recorded without deaths due to homicidal violence in El Salvador was July 31, 2019. “We can confirm that we have closed the day with zero homicides throughout the national territory,” the president said on that occasion. These were the first days of the new government and the PCT.
With the security strategies, the authorities have managed to leave behind the years marked by violence of previous governments, in which up to 51 homicides were reported on a single day [August 15, 2015].
During that year, 2015, the behavior of homicides in El Salvador placed it on the list of the most violent countries in the world. In August of that year alone, 918 murders were committed.
In the FMLN government, under the Salvador Sánchez Cerén administration, there were 1,028 homicides. Adding only the months of September 2016, 2017 and 2018, the figure for each year was 343, 435, and 250.
PRIOR ADMINISTRATIONS AND ONLY TWO DAYS WITHOUT HOMICIDES IN 15 YEARS
During the last three governments [one of ARENA and two of the FMLN], only two days were recorded without homicides in 15 years. One was recorded during the mandate of Elías Antonio Saca and the other in the government of the “Nicaraguan” fugitive, Mauricio Funes.
Regarding the exception regime, established by Bukele and based on the results of the latest survey conducted by CID Gallup, he pointed out that 95% of the population agrees with the implementation of the regime. He assured us that not even the relatives of the gang members themselves are against the measure.