El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador sent more than 4,000 security forces into three communities on the outskirts of the capital to root out gang members Wednesday, as President Nayib Bukele prepared to request another extension of emergency powers to combat crime.

Bukele announced the pre-dawn operation in a slickly produced video posted to the platform X. Soldiers and police were sent to surround the densely populated communities of Popotlan, Valle Verde and La Campanera outside San Salvador, the president said.

SAN SALVADOR, Sept 15 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — El Salvador invited the European Union (EU) officially to participate as an observer in the February 2024 elections, a source from the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) said.

The ruling body of the upcoming elections asked the Europeans to send an observer mission to the presidential, legislative, municipal and Central American Parliament elections in 2024.

SAN SALVADOR, Sept 11 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — El Salvador and Canada are seeking to boost Canadian tourism by signing an agreement to increase flights by Air Transat to this Central American country, industry sources reported.

A memorandum of understanding signed by Salvadorian Deputy Foreign Minister Adriana Mira with the airline’s executives seeks to promote the arrival of travelers from Canada to El Salvador’s market to which at least 70,000 Salvadoran residents in Canada will contribute.

SAN SALVADOR, July 17 (Reuters) - Salvadoran police arrested more than a hundred Colombians for their alleged involvement in operating a microfinancing scheme that laundered money from drug running and gang activities, security officials said on Monday.

The criminal group reportedly made loans, using funds obtained illegally, to individuals and small businesses with 20% interest, according to the officials.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele stood before tens of thousands of roaring sports fans with a message: I am not a dictator.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele registered for reelection in next year’s contest, his party announced Monday, despite objections from legal experts and opposition figures who say the country’s constitution prohibits his candidacy.

Bukele’s New Ideas party announced his registration and that of Vice President Felix Ulloa via Twitter Monday.

“New Ideas are invincible,” the party wrote.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Prosecutors in El Salvador say they have evidence that former President Alfredo Cristiani was present at a meeting that approved the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests and two others by soldiers.

Prosecutors who announced the case against Cristiani last year presented formal charges against the former president at an arraignment hearing late Monday, saying the plot to kill the Jesuits during the country’s 1980-1992 civil war went all the way to the top.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — At least 153 people jailed since El Salvador instituted emergency powers in March 2022 to confront the country’s powerful street gangs have died in state custody, according to a report released Monday by the human rights group Cristosal.

None of those who died had been convicted of a crime they were accused of at the time of their arrest. There were four women among the victims and the rest were men.

SAN SALVADOR, May 20 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and several others injured in a stampede at the Cuscatlan Stadium here in the Salvadoran capital on Saturday, said the National Civil Police of the Central American country.

The incident occurred when the Salvadoran league's quarter-final game was being played between the popular teams of Alianza and FAS.

According to Salvadoran media, although the stadium was full, fans pushed from outside, resulting in a stampede that pressured several people against the fences of the stadium.

SAN SALVADOR, April 3 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The explosion of a fireworks factory left at least four dead and a dozen injured, the National Civil Police (PNC) of El Salvador reported.    

The incident occurred in the “Jardines del Jordan” neighborhood, El Ranchador, Santa Ana, on Saturday night, according to a Civil Protection information.