El Salvador unveils mega-prison for gang members
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Loading... - Alessandra Amato
- 01 Feb 2023
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El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has unveiled what he called the largest prison in the Americas, intended to hold 40,000 suspected gang members, many of them arrested under a state of emergency in his "war" on crime.
He did not specify when the first transfer of prisoners would take place from the nearly 63,000 suspected gang members currently detained by Salvadorean authorities.
According to Mr Bukele, gangsters imprisoned by previous governments had access to "prostitutes, PlayStations, screens, mobile phones and computers" in other jails.
But those held at the new "Terrorism Confinement Center" would be forced to work, according to Deputy Justice Minister Osiris Luna.
Built in an isolated rural area near Tecoluca, 74km southeast of the capital San Salvador, the gigantic prison complex covers 166 hectares, Minister of Public Works Romeo Rodriguez said.
The jail, "the largest prison in all of America" according to Mr Rodriguez, will be guarded day and night by 600 soldiers and 250 police.
President Bukele posted on Twitter a video of himself visiting the facility, one of the biggest prisons in the world. Read More…
