Territorial Control Plan
The Territorial Control Plan is an ongoing Salvadoran security and anti-gang program. The program consists of six phases and a potential seventh phase if phases one through six are unsuccessful. In 2019, the Salvadoran government estimated that the Territorial Control Plan would cost US$575.2 million in total.
Background
Criminal gangs in El Salvador
have been a major problem in El Salvador since the conclusion of the Salvadoran Civil War in 1992. The country's most prominent gangs include Mara Salvatrucha, the 18th Street gang, Mao Mao, Miranda Loca, and La Maquina, among others. Most Salvadoran gangs were formed in the United States; some gangs, such as MS-13, were formed by refugees of the Salvadoran Civil War to protect themselves from Mexican American and African American gangs, meanwhile, other gangs, such as Barrio 18, formed as splinter groups of other gangs. Most gang members arrived in El Salvador after being deported from the United States following the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.Most crimes committed in the country since the end of the civil war have been committed by gangs. According to journalist C. Ramos, more violent deaths occurred during the 1990s than occurred during the civil war; During the 1960s and 1970s, the country's homicide rate was 30 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, meanwhile, from 1994 to 1997, the rate was 80 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Other crimes committed by gangs include robbery, motor-vehicle theft, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, extortion, rape, and kidnapping. During the early 2000s, the Salvadoran government estimated that between 50 and 60 percent of all crimes were committed by gangs. In 2019, the Salvadoran government estimated that extortion accounts for 80 percent of the gangs' finances, accounting for 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product. According to an opinion poll conducted by the Central American University during the 2000s, 20.8 percent of Salvadorans believed that gangs were the biggest problem facing the country.
''La Mano Dura''
In July 2003, Salvadoran President Francisco Flores implemented anti-gang policies known as La Mano Dura in an attempt to combat gang influence and lower the country's homicide rate. Flores' successor, Antonio Saca, increased the security policies and announced the beginning of Super Mano Dura. Methods employed by both policies to combat the gangs included joint patrols conducted by the National Civil Police and the Armed Forces of El Salvador of gang-controlled territories, random searches of suspected gang members, and arresting individuals who appear they could be gang members. Both policies resulted in the arrests of around 4,000 gang members and resulted in prison overcrowding. Saca's successor, Mauricio Funes, ended some policies of Super Mano Dura, such as mass raids of gang territory, in favor of pursuing criminal investigations. In September 2010, the Legislative Assembly passed the Gang Prohibition Act which made gang membership illegal and allowed the government to freeze bank accounts and seize assets of gang members. In February 2012, Funes increased the militarization of the PNC and instituted a curfew to prevent gang members from being in the streets at night.2012–2014 gang truce
In March 2012, the Salvadoran government, the Catholic Church, and the gangs agreed to a truce—known simply as the Gang Truce—to lower the country's homicide rate in exchange for concessions being granted to imprisoned gang members. The truce began when 30 imprisoned leaders of MS-13 and Barrio 18 were transferred from the Zacatecoluca maximum security prison to lower security prisons, which was then succeeded by what InSight Crime's Ramsey Geoffrey described as "the least violent day the country has seen in three years" when the police only registered two homicides. The truce was negotiated by Bishop, former deputy of the Legislative Assembly, and Minister of Public Security David Munguía Payés, however, the government denied that it had entered negotiations with the gangs; Funes that stated that "the government did not sit down to negotiate with gangs", Munguía stated that "the government of the republic is not at any time negotiating with any gang", and the police attributed the subsequent decrease in homicides to "improved coordination and intelligence". In the first 21 days of March 2012, the country recorded an average of 5 homicides per day, down from 14 homicides per day in both January and February 2012.In November 2012, as the truce began to fracture with a rise in homicides, Mijango and Colindres announced the implementation of "peace zones" where gangs would aim to eliminate all criminal activities, surrender their weapons, and make peace with rival gang members, in exchange for the police ending night-time anti-gang operations and the government implementing programs which provided work for gang members. By May 2013, the country had 19 peace zones, but homicides continued to rise, and in March 2013, the government stated that the truce was not working in some parts of the country. In July 2013, La Prensa Gráfica reported that the gangs were prepared to end the truce and were stockpiling weapons and vehicles, In March 2014, as homicides averaged 8 per day, PNC director Rigoberto Pleités stated that "the truce technically no longer exists, given the increase in homicides in the past months", and on 26 May 2014, four days before the end of his term as president, Funes stated "the truce has failed, not only because of the decision of those who agreed to it; it is because a state of opinion contrary to it was created; with this, I am not saying that the truce was necessary or the only option". By then, El Salvador averaged around 14 homicides per day. In 2014 and 2015, the gangs offered to begin negotiations to restore the truce, but Funes' successor, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, refused to begin another truce. According to an opinion poll conducted by the Technological University of El Salvador in August 2013, 47 percent of respondents believed the truce benefited the gangs. Additionally, 50 percent believed that the truce had not produced any results.
In the subsequent years following the end of the truce, various government officials have been indicted for their roles in organizing the truce. In July 2020, Attorney General Raúl Melara issued an arrest warrant for Funes for his role in organizing the truce. Funes, who was in exile in Nicaragua, rejected Melara's announcement and denied any wrongdoing. In November 2022 Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado ordered Funes to stand trial for allegedly "grant benefits to gang members who were in prison" and allegedly engaging in illicit association with the gangs. Funes was tried in absentia between 26 April and 29 May 2023, during which, he was found guilty of all charges presented against him and he was sentenced to serve 14 years imprisonment—8 for illicit association and 6 for failure to perform his duties. Following his sentencing, Funes stated that "the sentence, insofar as it refers to me, is illegal, doesn't have legal foundation", claiming that the government failed to prove the charges against him. In May 2016, Mijango was arrested for his role in the truce. He was tried in August 2017 during the "Truce Trial" with 17 other defendants but was ultimately acquitted; Prosecutors appealed the ruling and a new trial was held in May 2019 where he was again acquitted. Mijango was ultimately sentenced to 13 years imprisonment in 2018 for charges unrelated to the truce and died in prison in August 2023. In July 2020, Munguía was arrested for his role in organizing the truce. In May 2023, he was sentenced to serve 18 years imprisonment—8 years for illicit association, 6 years for failure to perform his duties, and 4 years for committing arbitrary actions. Munguía described his sentencing was "a political condemnation". Colindres has not been arrested or charged for his role in negotiating the truce.
Post-truce violence
In 2015, the country's homicide rate peaked at 104 homicides per 100,000 people for a total of 6,657 homicides, the most homicides recorded in El Salvador since 1983 during the civil war. Due to the surge in homicides, on 25 August 2015, the Supreme Court officially designated both MS-13 and Barrio 18 as terrorist organizations, stating that both gangs were responsible for "systematic attacks on the lives, security, and personal integrity of the population". As a result of the country's high homicide rate, El Salvador was often described in the media as the "world's deadliest peacetime country".Implementation
Phase one: "Preparation"
During the 2019 presidential election, Grand Alliance for National Unity candidate Nayib Bukele won 53 percent of the vote and was elected as the country's president, breaking the two-party system which had ruled the country since the end of the civil war, and Bukele won in part due to voters hoping he would combat the country's gang violence. In April 2019, two months before he took office, Bukele promised that his government would initiate a plan to combat crime.On 19 June 2019, Bukele announced that a security plan aimed at disrupting the finances of gangs in the country would be implemented at midnight. He referred to the plan on Twitter as the "Territorial Control Project". At midnight on 20 June 2019, Bukele announced the beginning of the plan, now known as the "Territorial Control Plan", in front of a crowd of personnel from both the PNC and the FAES at the Gerardo Barrios Plaza in central San Salvador, the country's largest and capital city.
Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, the director of the PNC, stated that phase one—known as "preparation"—would be implemented in 12 of the country's 262 municipalities. Arriaza described the 12 municipalities selected—Apopa, Ciudad Delgado, Colón, Ilopango, Mejicanos, San Marcos, San Martín, San Miguel, San Salvador, Santa Ana, Santa Tecla, and Soyapango—as "practically metropolitan area". Rogelio Rivas, the minister of justice and security, stated that phase one would be implemented in historic city centers; police and military personnel would be stationed in places where the gangs would collect extortion and rent money in an effort to disrupt the gangs' finances and to "send a message to the gangs". Arriaza stated that 2,500 police officers of the PNC and 3,000 soldiers of the armed forces would be involved in phase one. On 29 July 2019, 1,000 more soldiers were mobilized to implement phase one. As a part of phase one, the government also instituted a state of emergency in the country's prisons. A total of 28 prisons were put on lockdown; no visitations were allowed, prisoners were confined to their cells or moved to more secure prisons, and all cellphone service around prisons was blocked. This state of emergency was lifted on 2 September 2019. In total, phase one cost the government US$31 million.