Chapter 107: Constitutional Disorder

400      “So we put into operation.  . .” Carlos Martínez, “‘Now I Think It’s Very Clear Who’s in Control of the Situation,’” El Faro, February 10, 2020, elfaro.net/es/202002/el_salvador/24006/“Ahora-creo-que-está-muy-claro-quién-tiene-el-control-de-la-situación”.htm.

400      “Sixty percent of homicides have been reduced . . .” Martínez, “‘Now I Think It’s Very Clear Who’s in Control of the Situation,’” elfaro.net/es/202002/el_salvador/24006/“Ahora-creo-que-está-muy-claro-quién-tiene-el-control-de-la-situación”.htm. 

400      38 homicides per 100,000 people, a third of the rate in 2015 See United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Intentional Homicide—Dataset," data UNODC, accessed April 21, 2025, dataunodc.un.org/dp-intentional-homicide-victims. 

400      one of the highest in the world Jeremy Giles, “The Problem with El Salvador’s Crime Numbers,” Foreign Policy, August 8, 2024, foreignpolicy.com/2024/08/08/el-salvador-bukele-crime-homicide-prison-gangs/. 

400      nearly by half, from 2019 to 2020 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Intentional Homicide—Dataset,” dataunodc.un.org/dp-intentional-homicide-victims. 

400      from 21.5 . . . to 7.8 in 2022 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Intentional Homicide—Dataset,” dataunodc.un.org/dp-intentional-homicide-victims. 

400      2.4 in 2023 “El Salvador Says Murders Fell 70% in 2023 as It Cracked Down on Gangs,” Reuters, January 3, 2024, www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-says-murders-fell-70-2023-it-cracked-down-gangs-2024-01-03/. 

400      announced . . . the second-lowest homicide rate . . . only to Canada “El Says Murders Fell 70% in 2023 as It Cracked Down on Gangs,” www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-says-murders-fell-70-2023-it-cracked-down-gangs-2024-01-03/. 

400      “A certain country, and I happen to like the president . . .” NBC Chicago, “Donald Trump’s Full Speech at 2024 RNC,” YouTube, July 19, 2024,  youtu.be/dLUK_MEJP_M?si=nAYKJgITEQ3w8DIp, 1:03:46– 1:04:01.

400      “He would have you convinced that because . . .” NBC Chicago, “Donald Trump’s Full Speech at 2024 RNC,” youtu.be/dLUK_MEJP_M?si=nAYKJgITEQ3w8DIp, 1:05:45–1:05:57.

400–401  tabulated . . . not been independently verified . . . shut researchers out Bukele’s “administration has sealed data that was once publicly available, including counts of missing persons and bodies in mass graves, a telltale sign of gang executions. Human rights groups and families of victims have claimed this is a way to make crime statistics look better than they really are.” Sarah Kinosian, “Trolls, Propaganda and Fear Stoke Bukele’s Media Machine in El Salvador,” Reuters, November 29, 2022, www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/el-salvador-politics-media/. See also Nelson Renteria, “In El Salvador, Discrepancy over Deaths and Mass Graves Alarms Critics,” Reuters, August 3, 2022, www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-discrepancy-over-deaths-mass-graves-alarms-critics-2022-08-03/; and “Discrepancy Persists in El Salvador’s Violent Death Toll Since 2022,” El Salvador Now, September 3, 2025, www.elsalvadornow.org/2025/09/03/discrepancy-persists-in-el-salvadors-violent-death-toll-since-2022-persiste-disparidad-en-conteo-de-muertes-violentas-en-el-salvador-desde-2022, via Google Translate. 

401       are not included in homicide statistics Kinosian, “Trolls, Propaganda and Fear Stoke Bukele’s Media Machine in El Salvador,” www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/el-salvador-politics-media/; and Renteria, “In El Salvador, Discrepancy over Deaths and Mass Graves Alarms Critics,” www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-discrepancy-over-deaths-mass-graves-alarms-critics-2022-08-03/.

401       “who do not want to finance . . .” Bukele quoted in Martínez, “‘Now I Think It’s Very Clear Who’s in Control of the Situation,’” elfaro.net/es/202002/el_salvador/24006/“Ahora-creo-que-está-muy-claro-quién-tiene-el-control-de-la-situación”.htm. 

401       “And what did they do with those weapons and ammunition? . . .” Bukele quoted in Martínez, “‘Now I Think It’s Very Clear Who’s in Control of the Situation,’” elfaro.net/es/202002/el_salvador/24006/“Ahora-creo-que-está-muy-claro-quién-tiene-el-control-de-la-situación”.htm. 

401       bribed . . . to deliver votes . . . in the 2014 presidential election Eleno Castro and Randy Kotti, “Saving Democracy: Reducing Gang Influence on Political Elections in El Salvador,” M.A. Thesis, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, 2022,www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/degree%20programs/MPAID/files/Castro%2C%20Eleno%20%26%20Randy%20Kotti_SYPA.pdf, 11.