El Salvador‘s justice minister says the country’s homicide rate has fallen to about 4.4 killings a day since June, about half of 2018 levels.
The country of 6.5 million people recorded 3,340 killings in 2018, or about nine a day. The bloodiest year of 2015 saw 6,425 homicides, or 17.6 a day.
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Justice Minister Rogelio Rivas said Friday that “homicides are declining across the country.”
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Since taking office June 1, President Nayib Bukele has deployed police and soldiers to shopping and commercial areas to combat extortions, which provide 80 per cent of gangs’ incomes.
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READ MORE: El Salvador finally records first day without murder in 2 years
On Friday, a court sentenced 72 Mara Salvatrucha gang members to prison terms of 260 years for a series of 22 killings in 2014 and 2015.
The sentences are symbolic, since the effective maximum is 60 years.
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