Nearly 490 alleged members of the powerful Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), including several alleged leaders, went on trial collectively in El Salvador on Monday. They are accused of thousands of murders.
El Salvador is conducting mass trials of thousands of suspected gang members as part of President Nayib Bukele’s anti-gang crackdown. The Attorney General’s Office stated that 486 suspects were charged with 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including 29,000 homicides.
The trial included “members of the national leadership, street-level leaders, program coordinators from across the country, and founders of” MS-13. Salvadoran authorities accuse the group of a range of crimes, including the killing of 87 people in a single weekend in March 2022.
Bukele declared a “war” on gangs, which he said controlled 80 percent of Salvadoran territory. The Attorney General’s Office charged MS-13 with rebellion for seeking to establish a parallel state. Prosecutors vowed to “settle a historic debt.”
The campaign has dramatically decreased crime in El Salvador, turning it from one of Latin America’s most dangerous countries to one of its safest. However, rights groups have denounced alleged human rights abuses and over 500 deaths in prison. The fates of the detainees are being decided in mass trials with anonymous judges handing down punishments via video-link from prison.
MS-13 and rival Barrio 18 gangs operate drug trafficking rings and extortion rackets across Central America. The Trump administration has declared them terrorist organizations, justifying deadly military strikes on alleged drug-running boats. Bukele accuses MS-13 of murdering 200,000 people, including about 80,000 who disappeared without a trace.
At the trial’s opening, the judge stated that armed groups had disturbed Salvadoran peace and security for decades and would be tried with the full force of the law. Human Rights Watch and Cristosal have criticized the mass trials, warning of innocent people being punished for the crimes of others.”