The trend registered in the first 30 days of November reflects that the reduction in homicides continues and that this month of 2022 has been the safest November compared to other years.
For example, until November 30, the authorities reported that the maximum number of homicides that had been reported daily was two, while in 2018, there were eight crimes per day. Even in 2015, the most violent year in El Salvador, in the eleventh month of the year, there were 449 homicides.
«If we annualize the homicide rate for November, El Salvador (recently the most dangerous country in the world) would have 2.5 annual homicides per 100,000 inhabitants,» said the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele.
In the entire month of November, there were only 13 homicides; of these cases, the Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro, assured that no more than 1 case is still in impunity, the rest having already been captured.
The security plans implemented by the last four governments have failed to eradicate homicidal violence in El Salvador; On the contrary, in 20 years there were more than 70,000 violent deaths, but in the current administration there has been a drastic decrease.
Since 2019, the police authorities have announced a reduction in homicides; for 2020, there will be a 50% decrease compared to 2019, which closed with 2,383 crimes.
Until now, the current government has managed to end 2021 as the safest month in El Salvador’s history, with a record of 1,140 homicides, or 15% fewer crimes reported than in 2020, which ended with 1,341.In previous years, during the close of the year, annual homicides did not drop below 3,000 cases.
The decrease in violence in El Salvador is attributed by the authorities to the implementation of the Territorial Control Plan and the emergency regime. Both strategies have made it possible to curb the criminal activities of the gangs.
Even this year, since the regime began [March 27] until November 24, 2022, the authorities report a daily average of 0.68 homicides, which translates into less than one case per day, a significant drop compared to years past when there were up to 30 homicides a day.
For example, October was added to the three months of 2022 that were already considered by the authorities to be the safest in the history of El Salvador, since the accumulated number of days without homicides registered this month totaled 20, ranking behind July and August, which closed with 21 days without violent deaths. In the previous September, Salvadorans also experienced 19 days without violent deaths.
If the trend that was added this year continues, 2022 could top the list of the safest years in the country. Defense Minister René Merino Monroy has said that they expect to end 2022 with a rate of 10 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, a figure that would position El Salvador as the safest country on the continent.