New Video Reveals Stark Reality In El Salvador’s Mega-Prison Built To Hold 40k Inmates

Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, has released new footage from the Center of Confinement of Terrorism, the controversial mega-prison built in 2022 as part of a crackdown on street gangs and criminal organizations.

The video was published to announce the transfer of 2,000 gang members from the Izalco, Ciudad Barrios, and San Vicente detention centers to the maximum security prison known as CECOT.

“There, they will pay for the crimes committed against our people, isolated from the outside world, without any possibilities of leaving or organizing crimes from prison,” Bukele wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday (June 11).

Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, has released new footage from the controversial mega-prison built in 2022 as part of a crackdown on street gangs

Image credits: Gettyimages

The video shows the criminals, who reportedly operated within the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs, arriving at CECOT with their heads tilted down and arms tied behind their backs, being constantly followed by heavily armed guards.

Upon entering the prison, the semi-naked detainees squatted in a long line, their heads tilted forward until they nearly touched the backs of the inmates in front of them.

The mega-jail has a capacity for 40,000 prisoners, making it the largest prison in Latin America. It’s located in Tecoluca, San Vicente, 74 km (45 miles) southeast of San Salvador, and it occupies 166 hectares, as per the local newspaper TicoTimes.

The video was posted to announce the transfer of 2,000 gang members to the CECOT, which can hold up to 40,000 inmates

Image credits: NBC News

The decision to build the CECOT came after 92 Salvadorans were killed between March 24 and 27, 2022, as a result of gang violence, the deadliest peak in lethal violence in the country’s recent history. 

The Legislative Assembly adopted a state of exception, which allows the state to transcend the rule of law and suspend constitutional rights in the name of the public good.

Police officers and soldiers then arrested over 58,000 people—including at least 1,600 minors—in eight months.

There are currently 14,532 prisoners in CECOT. At the national level, the imprisoned population reaches 108,200, which translates to 1,707 prisoners for every 100,000 Salvadorans.

 “They will pay for the crimes committed against our people, isolated from the outside world, without any possibilities of leaving or organizing crimes from prison,” the president wrote

Image credits: NBC News

While Bukele’s policies have significantly lowered the country’s murder rate, human rights organizations have denounced “torture and other ill-treatment of detainees”

Image credits: NBC News

According to official data published by the government in January 2024, 2023 saw the lowest number of homicides in the history of the country, as 154 homicides were recorded, a rate of 2.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. 

In 2022, 495 homicides were recorded, or 7.8 per 100,000 inhabitants.

“The majority of Salvadorans have applauded the severe measures,” reads a 2022 report by the International Crisis Group, an independent organization working to prevent wars and shape policies for peace.

Detainees don’t have mattresses, as guards fear they would give them a chance to hide dangerous objects

However, many human rights organizations have criticized the harsh conditions that the prisoners are subjected to at CECOT, including excessive use of force and torture by authorities. 

In a report published in 2022, Human Rights Watch denounced that, since the state of exception was established, there have been “arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, and significant due process violations.”

“In addition, the circumstances of many deaths in custody during the state of emergency suggest state responsibility for those deaths,” the 94-page report adds.

Similarly, Amnesty International warns El Salvador is experiencing the “gradual replacement of gang violence with state violence.”

In a report published in December, the organization accuses the government of adopting “a policy of systematic torture of all persons detained under the state of emergency because they are suspected of being gang members.” It also asserts that the “prevailing impunity” among Salvadoran authorities is facilitating “repeated violations.”

Bukele achieved a landslide victory in February when he was reelected with 83% of the votes

Esta madrugada, trasladamos a más de 2,000 pandilleros desde los penales de Izalco, Ciudad Barrios y San Vicente, hacia el CECOT.

Ahí pagarán por los crímenes cometidos contra nuestro pueblo; incomunicados con el exterior, sin posibilidad de salir, ni de ordenar crímenes desde… pic.twitter.com/n4syM6l9Y3

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) June 11, 2024

Taking to his X account, Bukele wrote a “message to gangs” in the year the mega-prison was built: 

“We have 16,000 ‘homeboys’ in our possession. Apart from the 1,000 arrested these days. We confiscated everything from them, even their sleeping mats. We rationed their food, and now they no longer see the sun. STOP KILLING NOW, or they are going to pay, too.”

In February 2024, the president, who has described himself as “the world’s coolest dictator” and a “Philosopher King,” was reelected for a second term with 83% of the votes.