The vote late Tuesday was the latest in a series of anti-gang legislation after 62 suspected gang killings on March 26 led President Nayib Bukele to seek and win a state of emergency. Cruel measures against imprisoned gangs and increased prison sentences followed, as well as the arrest of about 6,000 people accused of being gang members. But the latest law extends Boukele’s attack on the press, another of his frequent targets. “We consider these reforms to be a clear attempt at censorship of the media,” the El Salvador Journalists’ Union said in a statement on Wednesday. “Banning journalism from reporting the reality of thousands of people living in these gang-controlled communities will create an illusion that is not true.” The law states that “radio, television, print or digital media” will face up to 10 to 15 years in prison for “reproducing or transmitting to the general population messages or statements coming from or allegedly coming from those criminal groups that could to cause anxiety and panic in the population “. The measure also provides for prison sentences of 10 to 15 years for painting graffiti commonly used to mark gang ground in neighborhoods throughout El Salvador. Bukele has taken an increasingly militant stance with anyone who dares to challenge his government, and recently claimed that human rights NGOs, the American Commission on Human Rights, and George Soros’s Open Society Foundations are gang collaborators. As part of the state of emergency, the government has restricted his freedom of association, suspended his right to information about his rights at the time of his arrest, and denied him access to a lawyer. A suspect can now be detained for 15 days without charge instead of 72 hours. The imprisoned members of the gang reduced their meals to twice a day, were not allowed to leave their cells and took their mattresses. Marcela Pineda, an MP from Bukele’s New Ideas party, said on Tuesday: “With these reforms we are telling gangsters that they can not send audio or text strings to intimidate the population.” Boukele had raised the issue earlier in the day, saying there were rumors that gangs could retaliate against the repression by attacking civilians. He threatened to withhold food from incarcerated gang members if they did. The press conference also noted that there were reports that the Bukele administration, like other administrations before it, had made deals with the gangs to reduce the killing rate and provide political support in exchange for other benefits. The US Treasury Department reiterated these allegations in December, saying the Buccaneer government had purchased gang support with financial benefits and privileges for jailed leaders. Boukele categorically denied the allegations.
