In Iran there is, so far, no sign of a mutinous mood
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Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Daily Mail
How El Salvador's crackdown on crime - from gangs to petty offences - and mega prisons transformed the country... and prompted US to declare it safer than Britain
El Salvador was once one of the most dangerous countries in the world, but today its murder rate has dropped by 98 per cent in a decade, and the US now considers it safer to visit than Britain or France. In 2015, there were 6,656 murders in the small Central American country, which has a population of just 6.4 million. But in 2024, there were only 114 killings. The dramatic change came after President Nayib Bukele, who brands himself as the 'world's coolest dictator', launched an aggressive crackdown on crime. In 2022, he declared a state of emergency, which remains in place. It gave security forces the power to arrest people without a warrant. At one point, around 1,000 people a day were being detained on suspicion of gang involvement. A year later, El Salvador opened a new prison called the Terrorism Confinement Centre - Cecot - to hold the growing number of detainees. It was built in a remote area and is now one of the most extreme prisons in the world. Inmates are banned from all contact with the outside world, and up to 100 men share a single cell. They sleep on bare concrete slabs with no mattresses, and food is limited. There are no visitors, and prisoners are often transferred in chains, surrounded by armed guards. Inmates are confined to their cells and are only allowed out for exercise in the prison's corridors or video link hearings. El Salvador now has the highest prison population per capita in the world, with nearly three per cent of all men in the country behind bars. US president Donald Trump has hailed Bukele's policies, and the two have become close allies. Before the crackdown, the country was dominated by two main gangs, MS-13 and Mara 18, which formed in California during the 1980s. Many members were deported back to El Salvador in the 1990s and took control of large parts of the country. Gangs extorted money from businesses, controlled entire neighbourhoods, and carried out brutal killings. But that has changed since the leader's rise. He campaigned on the promise to make the country safe, and his supporters say he has delivered. Criminal gangs are not the only ones in his crosshairs. He introduced tougher penalties for petty crimes - anyone caught drink driving, even with a trace of alcohol, can be jailed for 15 days before facing a fast-track trial and up to five years in prison. He has also surrounded entire towns with soldiers, doubled the size of the military, and expanded surveillance powers. Checkpoints with troops carrying rifles have been set up, and cops go door to door in search of suspected criminals. The tactic, which Bukele calls a 'security fence,' has been used in dozens of operations since 2022. Bukele has also pushed legal reforms allowing judges to try dozens of suspects at once. Evidence can include anonymous tips or online posts. In February 2025, Bukele signed a law which ordered children held for organised crimes to be sent to adult prisons. According to Human Rights Watch, over 3,000 minors have been detained with little or no evidence. The government has also introduced a national informant hotline, offering cash rewards to citizens who report suspected gang members. Posters and text messages encourage neighbours and even relatives to turn people in. Critics say this has led to false accusations and revenge reports. However, Bukele says the crackdown is 'an example for other countries … that we can live in peace'. Aside from his war on crime, he has launched policies like making his country the first nation to declare Bitcoin legal tender and has improved the country's infrastructure. Last year, he was re-elected with 85 per cent of the vote in a controversial election. His main opposition got less than 7 per cent. In a recent move, Congress abolished the limit on presidential terms, allowing him to stay in power for life if re-elected. Opposition congresswoman Marcela Villatoro said, 'Democracy died today,' after the reforms were passed by 57 votes to three. Bukele's supporters argue that the results speak for themselves and say locals and tourists now walk the streets safely at night, even in areas that were once no-go zones. But his huge transformations have not come at a cost. He has been heavily criticised by human rights advocates who say he has committed many atrocities, especially when it comes to detainees. In 2022, Amnesty International said: 'Under the current state of emergency, the Salvadoran authorities have committed massive human rights violations, including thousands of arbitrary detentions and violations of due process, as well as torture and ill-treatment.'
Leader Live
4 days ago
- Leader Live
Lammy not accepting Iran's claims over enriched uranium
Representatives from the United Kingdom, Germany and France held talks with Iran last week to try to break the deadlock over the country's nuclear programme. Tehran maintains it is open to diplomacy, though it recently suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A central concern for western powers was highlighted when the IAEA reported in May that Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% – just below weapons-grade level – had grown to more than 400kg. In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, Mr Lammy said: 'Its leaders cannot explain to me – and I've had many conversations with them – why they need 60% enriched uranium. 'If I went to Sellafield or Urenco in Cheshire, they haven't got anything more than 6%. The Iranians claim it's for academic use, but I don't accept that.' Mr Lammy warned that Iran developing nuclear weapons could lead to an escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Israel and the United States carried our strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June. 'Many of your readers will have watched Oppenheimer and seen the fallout of (the US building an atomic bomb),' he said. 'So it's what (a nuclear Iran) might mean in terms of other countries in the neighbourhood who would desire one, too. And we would be very suddenly handing over to our children and grandchildren a world that had many more nuclear weapons in it than it has today.' The Foreign Secretary said he had heard Israeli arguments in favour of regime change in Tehran, but did not believe that was behind the US decision to strike. The Tottenham MP added any decision to topple the government was one for the Iranian people, with his focus 'on what the UK can do to stop Iran becoming a nuclear power'. Last month, Mr Lammy suggested that Britain, France and Germany could 'snap back' on sanctions against Iran unless the country gets 'serious' about stepping back from its nuclear ambitions. He told the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee: 'Iran face even more pressure in the coming weeks because the E3 can snap back on our sanctions, and it's not just our sanctions, it's actually a UN mechanism that would impose dramatic sanctions on Iran across nearly every single front in its economy. 'So they have a choice to make. It's a choice for them to make. 'I'm very clear about the choice they should make, but I'm also clear that the UK has a decision to make that could lead to far greater pain for the Iranian regime unless they get serious about the international desire to see them step back from their nuclear ambitions at this time.'
North Wales Chronicle
4 days ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Lammy not accepting Iran's claims over enriched uranium
Representatives from the United Kingdom, Germany and France held talks with Iran last week to try to break the deadlock over the country's nuclear programme. Tehran maintains it is open to diplomacy, though it recently suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A central concern for western powers was highlighted when the IAEA reported in May that Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% – just below weapons-grade level – had grown to more than 400kg. In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, Mr Lammy said: 'Its leaders cannot explain to me – and I've had many conversations with them – why they need 60% enriched uranium. 'If I went to Sellafield or Urenco in Cheshire, they haven't got anything more than 6%. The Iranians claim it's for academic use, but I don't accept that.' Mr Lammy warned that Iran developing nuclear weapons could lead to an escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Israel and the United States carried our strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June. 'Many of your readers will have watched Oppenheimer and seen the fallout of (the US building an atomic bomb),' he said. 'So it's what (a nuclear Iran) might mean in terms of other countries in the neighbourhood who would desire one, too. And we would be very suddenly handing over to our children and grandchildren a world that had many more nuclear weapons in it than it has today.' The Foreign Secretary said he had heard Israeli arguments in favour of regime change in Tehran, but did not believe that was behind the US decision to strike. The Tottenham MP added any decision to topple the government was one for the Iranian people, with his focus 'on what the UK can do to stop Iran becoming a nuclear power'. Last month, Mr Lammy suggested that Britain, France and Germany could 'snap back' on sanctions against Iran unless the country gets 'serious' about stepping back from its nuclear ambitions. He told the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee: 'Iran face even more pressure in the coming weeks because the E3 can snap back on our sanctions, and it's not just our sanctions, it's actually a UN mechanism that would impose dramatic sanctions on Iran across nearly every single front in its economy. 'So they have a choice to make. It's a choice for them to make. 'I'm very clear about the choice they should make, but I'm also clear that the UK has a decision to make that could lead to far greater pain for the Iranian regime unless they get serious about the international desire to see them step back from their nuclear ambitions at this time.'
