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El Salvador's new mega-prison gets first inmates

Published March 3, 2023 at 12:52 PM EST
A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on Feb. 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on Feb. 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )

In El Salvador, thousands of suspected gang members have arrived at a huge new “mega-prison” in the country. The new jail is a key part of President Nayib Bukele’s war on crime.

The prison will eventually hold 40,000 inmates, but this week only took in 2,000. NPR’s Eyder Peralta was in El Salvador recently. He joins host Peter O’Dowd with the latest.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.