El Salvador’s National Assembly in an early morning session on Sunday approved a state of emergency request made by President Nayib Bukele to tame a wave of gang-related killings over the weekend.
The decree, which grants the government special powers by loosening arrest rules for as long as 30 days, follows a spike in gang violence that claimed 62 lives on Saturday alone, the Assembly said in a statement on its website.
“Unless you are a gang member or authorities consider you suspicious,” daily life in El Salvador should continue mostly as normal, Bukele said on Twitter. Religious, cultural, business and sports activities aren’t affected by the emergency, which was approved by 67 votes out of 84, the Assembly said.
Article 29 of the Constitution allows for a state of emergency “in cases of war, territorial invasion, rebellion, sedition, catastrophe, epidemic or other general calamity or in case of grave disturbances to public order,” the Assembly said.
The constitutional rights of assembly and communication are temporarily suspended to allow law enforcement and the military to secure national territory, the Assembly said.
The penal system is ordered to implement the emergency at its maximum security prisons, with jail cells locked around the clock, Bukele wrote on Twitter.
“The message to gangs is: Because of your actions, your homeboys will not be able to see a single ray of sunlight,” he said.
