For decades, rival gangs ruled the streets of El Salvador, earning the country the title of murder capital of the world.

But last year, the country’s President Nayib Bukele declared war on gangs, imposing emergency security measures and giving police sweeping powers of arrest.

Despite thousands of gang members now being behind bars, there is a dark side to the crackdown.

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President Nayib Bukele’s brutal crackdown on crime has dramatically reduced the murder rate and won him favour with the public, but what’s the true cost of his war on gangs? The Economist’s deputy editor, Robert Guest, reports from El Salvador on how Bukele is using the fight against crime to amass power.

00:00 – Inside president Bukele’s crackdown
02:25 – How the public and the prisoners’ families have reacted
03:55 – El Salvador’s security minister on fair trials
05:13 – How Bukele is amassing power

Nayib Bukele shows how to dismantle a democracy and remain popular: https://econ.st/470cYVo

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For more stories from the Americas: https://econ.st/3NZFsG2

Young Latin Americans are unusually open to autocrats: https://econ.st/3DktqSH

What the world’s budding autocrats can learn from El Salvador: https://econ.st/3pV86Qu

El Salvador’s authoritarian president is becoming a regional role model: https://econ.st/44NuGJA

Latin America’s prisons are overcrowded and violent: https://econ.st/3Dmf8AT

El Salvador’s government has moved 2,000 suspected gang members to its new ‘mega prison’ as part of its crackdown on gang violence.

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