Doug Specht, Senior Lecturer and Director of Teaching, Learning and Quality Assurance at the School of Media and Communications, was quoted in an article by Publimetro about El Salvador’s heavy-handed actions against gangs.
Talking about El Salvador’s President Nayik Bukele using his power against gangs, Specht said: “This is not the first time that Bukele has flexed his muscles and used questionable tactics to present himself as a strongman figure against gangs…In fact, one of his campaign narratives revolved around ending gang activity. Yet this is an unprecedented raid, with little evidence, oversight, or constitutional safeguards, and is seen by many as a further right-wing turn by the president, selling himself as a Bitcoin broker and political maverick.”
He added: “Previous governments have also attempted a ceasefire, but these have had little impact, as no government has wanted to be seen making public pacts or agreements with the gangs – such pacts are unpopular with the electorate, even if they may succeed.
“Given these unique circumstances and a population that wants to see an end to the gangs, but is also not generally supportive of peace talks, successive governments have tried to take a heavy-handed approach to the issue; we have seen it and will continue to see it on a small scale in other parts of the region.”
Read the full article on the Publimetro website.
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