El Salvador’s president has locked up 19,000 people in a month
Many are likely to be gang members. But innocent people are being rounded up, too
OUTSIDE THE public defender’s office in San Salvador, where lawyers employed by the state provide free legal counsel, the pavement throngs with people seeking help for relatives who have been swept up in mass arrests. Lawyers instruct them on which documents to bring to court. A utility bill is helpful proof of identity, says one. “What if we don’t have running water or electricity where we live?” asks a woman.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Iron fist”
From the April 30th 2022 edition
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