El Salvador - Mano dura más dura

Bukele once criticized mano dura laws. Now he's engaging in one of the harshest gang crackdowns in history, even as journalists report on how he negotiated with and gave benefits to gang leadership.

Early last week, El Salvador declared a state of emergency in response to the bloodiest weekend in the country in recent history. During the weekend of March 25-27, more than 70 people were killed, signaling the possible collapse of the gang truce Bukele secretly negotiated with MS13 and Barrio 18 in 2020. 

Since putting the state of emergency in place, …