El Salvador’s notorious mega prison may become home to some of America’s hardest criminals as Trump and Bukele strike an unprecendented deal to deport prisoners
This week, the US and El Salvador agreed on an incredible deal to send criminals of all nationalities to notorious mega prisons in El Salvador.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has agreed to an “unprecedented, extraordinary migratory agreement” with the US, allowing Trump to transfer convicts to the “hell on Earth” facilities. The US President said this pact will make both countries “stronger, safer, and more prosperous”.
One of the most notorious prisons is the infamous ‘Terrorism Confinement Centre’, known as ‘Crecot,’ which could end up taking deportees from the United States.
The prison is estimated to have up to 20,000 inmates and is full of hardened gangster, drug kingpins and murderers.
Dubbed the “black hole of human rights”, the prison cost $100 million and is the largest in Latin America.
The nation’s hardline president Bukele has come to this arrangement with trump as he cracks down on heinous crimes in El Salvador’s capital. The crime rate has plummeted over the last decade – once at a staggering 107 homicides per 100,000 people, the figure was at 7.8 people per 100,000 in 2023, according to reports.
CNN was previously granted access to the Crecot prison amid concern around human rights in the jail.
The American news channel said the “hard-hearted treatment of men is on full display throughout Cecot”. Prisoners are in cells of 80, with only a metal bunk to sleep on with no pillows, sheets or mattresses. They are only allowed to wear white shorts and t shirts.
Gang members spend 23 and a half hours locked in their cells, and the only time they can stretch is chained in the halls.
Many of the prisoners in Crecot will never be released.
El Salvador’s public security minister Gustavo Villatoro said: “We believe in rehab, but just for common criminals. Someone who every day killed people, every day raped our girls, how can you change their minds? We are not stupid.”
Tension in the jail is palpable, with inmates from gangs that are sworn enemies placed next to each other in cells. Further punishment for “grave offences” in the jail could lead to up to 15 days in solitary confinement in a cell with only a small bit of light coming through the roof.
Lawyer Zaira Navas said there is a “deliberate policy” of not protecting people in jail. She said: “People have died in El Salvador’s prisons and jails because of torture, a lack of food, unhealthy conditions, an inhuman lack of attention and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”
Amnesty International warns El Salvador is experiencing the “gradual replacement of gang violence with state violence.”
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