World · Latin America · 3 hrs ago
Peru's Fujimori visits El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison
Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori visited CECOT, El Salvador's maximum-security prison, on Thursday.
The prison was built under President Nayib Bukele and is designed to hold people considered the most dangerous gang members.
Fujimori has promoted a similar prison model for Peru, which is facing a security crisis driven by widespread extortion and rising homicides.
Salvadoran officials showed her delegation the prison's design, surveillance systems and methods for isolating gang members.
The visit included talks on sharing security expertise between the two countries, and Fujimori was due to meet Bukele later.
El Salvador's gang crackdown has drawn human rights criticism, with rights groups documenting thousands of alleged arbitrary arrests under emergency measures introduced in 2022.
CECOT can hold up to 40,000 inmates, and allegations of abuse by some people previously held there have also drawn attention.
Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori visited El Salvador’s maximum-security CECOT prison on Thursday.
Fujimori praised the Bukele administration’s security efforts, calling them a “successful model, a very useful model.”
Officials discussed technical exchanges on citizen security, digital security and modernizing state services.
Fujimori had expressed interest during her election campaign in building a similar prison in Peru, which faces extortion and rising homicides.
El Salvador has imprisoned more than 90,000 people under emergency powers that human rights organizations say have led to thousands of arbitrary arrests.
- Who
- Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori visited CECOT.
- What
- She toured the maximum-security prison and discussed security cooperation with Salvadoran officials.
- When
- Thursday; the article does not give a calendar date for the visit.
- Where
- CECOT, in El Salvador.
- Why
- The visit included discussions on technical exchanges in security and state services. Fujimori has also expressed interest in a similar prison for Peru.
Salvadoran government and Fujimori
Human rights organizations
Security policy
Salvadoran government and Fujimori
Fujimori praised the Bukele administration’s security efforts as a “successful model, a very useful model.
Human rights organizations
Organizations have documented thousands of cases of arbitrary arrests under the state of exception.
El Salvador began a state of exception, an emergency measure that suspends certain constitutional rights to fight gangs.
CECOT opened, with capacity for up to 40,000 inmates.
The prison gained international attention after more than 250 Venezuelans and some Salvadorans were sent there.
Costa Rican President Laura Fernández toured the prison.
Fujimori visited CECOT and met Salvadoran officials, with a later meeting with President Nayib Bukele scheduled.
- Prison
- CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center
- Capacity
- Up to 40,000 inmates
- Imprisonment under emergency powers
- More than 90,000 people
- State of exception began
- March 2022
- Incarceration rate
- About 1.5% of El Salvador’s population is behind bars
What people are saying
successful model, a very useful model
As is public knowledge, Peru also faced historical challenges in the 1980s and early 1990s, confronting two major terrorist groups