The Latin American Report # 572

El Salvador's legislative branch, firmly dominated by President Nayib Bukele's political organization, approved a new reform to the Code of Criminal Procedure extending the deadline for the Prosecutor's Office to file charges against individuals detained during the controversial state of emergency regime established in March 2022 to combat gang violence. This measure, known to always involve significant restrictions on individual rights observance, has been key to stopping the bloodshed caused by violence in the Central American country, but has also been heavily criticized for enabling abuses and the imprisonment of innocent people.

By 2023, the Attorney General's Office had already requested an extension to the original 24-month limit for pretrial detention in cases involving serious crimes, which was granted under Decree 803/2023, whose validity was set to expire next week. Now the Legislative Assembly has authorized an extension of up to three years for the Public Prosecutor's Office to conduct necessary investigations and file formal charges against individuals (allegedly) belonging to gangs who were detained under the state of emergency.

Bukele's government initially proposed an even more aggressive reform, seeking to make the maximum pretrial detention period equivalent to half the sentence for each charged offense, which experts and activists denounced as a form of "preemptive conviction." Since the state of emergency's activation, the Salvadoran legislature had already approved that individuals accused of homicide, extortion, and drug trafficking remain under pretrial detention until a final verdict is reached. Last February, Bukele-aligned forces in the "José Simeón Cañas" government center approved another reform to the Code of Criminal Procedure, allowing judges to modify the maximum pretrial detention period to "prevent individuals accused of crimes from evading justice". This measure was aimed at countering alleged defense attorneys' delaying tactics seeking to exhaust pretrial detention time limits.

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Supporting this Friday's legislative action, Deputy Caleb Navarro stated that the country is approaching "1,000 days without homicides, [id est,] 1,000 days where families haven't mourned a member's death or where gang members extort or recruit youth." Currently, about 88,750 individuals are in pretrial detention who authorities confidently associate with gangs.

While tackling gang violence is commendable, we must ensure pretrial detention doesn't lose its essence, especially considering those who might ultimately prove innocent. For someone detained "provisionally" since 2022, this reform means they could remain in that status for up to six years, which, in my view, doesn't reflect well on a system supposedly respecting due process. A female opposition deputy linked this to "the inability of institutions responsible for administering justice." "They've had over two years to conduct serious investigations... [Two years] to determine through trial, with sufficient information, who is guilty or innocent," she added.

Bukele, now constitutionally enabled to seek a third term, enjoys high esteem among Salvadoran citizens, who undoubtedly appreciate living without fear of stray bullets. However, media outlets like local El Faro have reported that the bloody weekend, which triggered the state of emergency three years ago, resulted from the breakdown of an agreement between the current head of the old Country Club and gang leaders.

Regional news briefs

• Not content with targeting the head of Lula da Silva's Health Ministry, Foggy Bottom also revoked visas for his wife and daughter, according to EFE. This is in retaliation for his role in negotiating and implementing an agreement where Cuban doctors provided services in remote areas of the South American giant under the Mais Médicos program (created in 2013 and still active), for which Havana received significant financial compensation. For years, these contracts served as a lifeline to guarantee sound income later used to import food, but the first Trump administration heavily pressured to sink the most lucrative ones. In Brazil's case, termination occurred more "naturally" after Jair Bolsonaro took power in 2019. Washington also imposed sanctions on officials allegedly involved in similar agreements in African countries and Grenada. Several Caribbean nations stood firm against U.S. pressure, while others modified their agreements with Cuba, initially ensuring full salary payments directly to the island's doctors.
  

• The Peruvian Army confirms ongoing armed clashes with remnants of the Maoist-inspired armed group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), a protagonist of the bloody internal armed conflict from the last two decades of the 20th century, which caused approximately 69,000 victims according to widely accepted estimates. In recent days, there have been tense protests over an amnesty declared by disputed President Dina Boluarte's government for police and military personnel prosecuted or convicted for crimes committed during the conflict against Sendero Luminoso, another armed group known as the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, and innocent civilians. "Boluarte has once again made herself complicit with all the criminals who raped, disappeared, and killed – we won't forget that," stated an activist.