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EL SALVADOR has declared a state of emergency after an alarming rise in murders and gang-related killings.
Fourteen people were killed on Friday and a staggering 62 on Saturday, the worst violence in the Central American country for four years.
The state of emergency, approved by congress on Sunday, suspends the constitutional right of freedom of assembly and loosens the rules on arrest.
President Nayib Bukele ordered an immediate lockdown of jailed gang members in their cells.
“They are not to go out even to the patio,” he said, adding: “A message to the gangs: because of your actions, now your homeboys will not see even one ray of sunlight.”
The country’s social movements are opposed to Mr Bukele’s increased militarisation of El Salvador.
They warn that the suspension of constitutional rights will mainly affect those who oppose his authoritarian rule.
Mr Bukele has faced mass protests against his decision to make the volatile bitcoin cryptocurrency legal tender in a bid to overcome a deepening economic crisis.
He has continued to tighten his grip on power by removing opponents from the judiciary, paving the way for him to seek another term of office, despite constitutional limits.
