{"id":230629,"date":"2023-03-06T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=230629"},"modified":"2023-03-02T05:12:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T05:12:36","slug":"the-scale-of-el-salvadors-new-prison-is-difficult-to-comprehend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/03\/the-scale-of-el-salvadors-new-prison-is-difficult-to-comprehend\/","title":{"rendered":"The Scale of El Salvador\u2019s New Prison Is Difficult to Comprehend"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Members of the “Mara 18” and “MS-13” gangs are seen in custody at a maximum security prison in Izalco, Sonsonate, El Salvador, on Sept. 4, 2020. (Yuri Cortez\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

26 Feb 2023 – <\/em>Earlier this month, Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, unveiled his latest infrastructure project: a massive, \u201cfirst-world\u201d jail that could well become the largest penitentiary in the world, with an alleged capacity<\/a> to hold 40,000 inmates. This weekend<\/a>, he announced the transfer of the first 2,000 prisoners to the new facility.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA common-sense project,\u201d Bukele called<\/a> it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The reality is that the scale of the project defies common sense \u2014 and easy comprehension. And the social implications of the endeavor are no less striking. The citizens of El Salvador have tacitly accepted Bukele\u2019s unprecedented crackdown on crime, and, for the time anyway, are ignoring its broader ramifications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The unveiling of the prison came in typical Bukelian fashion. He took over the country\u2019s airwaves to share a 35-minute video<\/a> of himself touring the facilities (it was soon posted on his popular Twitter feed, the presidency\u2019s de facto press office). He can be seen arriving at the jail in a caravan of black SUVs. \u201cWelcome to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism, a key part in our battle against the gangs,\u201d Osiris Luna Meza, director of El Salvador\u2019s penitentiary system, said.<\/p>\n

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Ayer inauguramos el Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo\u2026<\/p>\n

Una gigantesca obra realizada en tan solo 7 meses, y que adem\u00e1s es una pieza fundamental para ganar por completo la guerra contra pandillas.https:\/\/t.co\/TSCkfl41EY<\/a><\/p>\n

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n