The presence of police and soldiers is reinforced due to the increase in murders in El Salvador

(CNN Spanish) – The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, on Wednesday night ordered the National Civil Police and the Armed Forces to reinforce their presence in the streets of the country due to an increase in homicides in the last 48 hours.

According to the authorities, 12 murders were registered on Tuesday and 22 on Wednesday. While, until last November 7, according to the police, the daily average of homicides was 3.6.

The president assured that in the next few hours he will announce new actions to guarantee the safety of Salvadorans.

According to government figures, since Bukele became president in June 2019, there has been a reduction in violence. In May of that year, the month prior to their landing, the average number of murders was 9.2.

The government of El Salvador attributes the reduction in violence to the results of the so-called territorial control plan and rejects that it is due to a possible truce with the gangs.

However, the prosecution opened an investigation in 2020 to determine if the current administration had a pact with the gangs to reduce murders in exchange for benefits in prisons, as happened during the presidency of Mauricio Funes in 2012.