In 2015 El Salvador, with a population of 6,200,000, had 6,656 homicides.
A rate of 107 deaths per 100,000 population.
Nine years later, in 2024, the total number of homicides in El Salvador was 114.
That’s a giant 98% reduction in homicides!
In the AP’s grudging acknowledgement, "the 1.9 homicides per 100,000 in population that [El Salvador President] Bukele said had been achieved would put it below what any Latin American country had reported in 2023."
The left-wingers at AP aren’t happy because even though El Salvador had a record low number of homicides, it came "under a second full year of a state of emergency that has given the government extraordinary powers and curtailed some fundamental rights."
The gangs brought the crackdown on themselves.
"In March 2022, El Salvador’s notoriously powerful street gangs killed 62 people in a matter of hours. The Congress granted President Nayib Bukele’s administration a requested 'state of exception' to crack down on the gangs, a move that included suspending some constitutional rights and giving police more powers to arrest and hold suspects."
We would say the right to stay alive for law-abiding citizens takes priority over handling gang-bangers with kid gloves.
And so does El Salvador's population.
We’ve written about President Bukele before.
Here Bukele took responsibility for the conditions in his country that caused his citizens to sneak across our border.
And here, we contrasted El Salvador’s successful approach to crime with Washington, D.C.’s unsuccessful approach.
We quoted D.C. Atty. Gen. Brian Schwalb who in 2023 had more homicides in his city than El Salvador had in the country, "We as a city and a community need to be much more focused on prevention and surrounding young people and their families with resources if we want to be safer in the long run.
"We cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it."
As we said then, Schwalb is telling the residents of D.C. three things:
- One, they are on their own.
- Two, as a weakling he intends to dodge responsibility by blaming the usual list of left-wing excuses that have created our current crime crisis and conveniently never get solved.
- And three, he’s ignorant.
As a matter of fact, you can arrest and prosecute your way out of a crime wave.
In El Salvador, "more than 83,000 people have been arrested since, the majority jailed without due process," whines AP.
Yes, that’s why the democratically elected legislature passed the state of emergency.
Since then - 8,000 have been found innocent of gang ties and released.
In spite of all the teeth gnashing about "rights," even AP has to admit what was bad for gangs was great for citizens.
"Despite the restrictions, the improvements in security have contributed to Mr. Bukele’s extremely high popularity. For years, many Salvadorans lived in fear of the gangs that controlled swathes of the country, extorting, killing and forcibly recruiting.
"The gangs’ repressive control made it difficult and dangerous for residents to travel between neighborhoods, including for work. Now residents say they can walk their neighborhoods without fear."
Fighting crime isn’t a job for ivory tower sociologists and social workers.
It’s a job for police and prosecutors.
You make keeping citizens safe from criminals your top priority and go from there.
The sooner left-controlled cities figure that out, the sooner blue cities will become safe for everyone again.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.