Why? If they've checked the facts, they know the answer and could just put it in the headline.
A factual headline would be something like "despite improvements, El Salvador still dangerous".
The reason they don't do this is because they know the question will draw more readers. It's kind of click bait, and the fact it's such common practice is the whole reason for Betteridge's Law.
It would work if you indiscriminately jail anyone that “looks” like a gangbanger. But I would guess 30% of those jailed would be innocent even if the mass arrests were made in good faith (they almost certainly won’t be at least in the US).
This is not exactly what happened and an ignorant hot take. People were rounded up without any due process and disappeared into secret, dystopian human warehouses with the express intention of no rehabilitation and throwing away the key: an industrial-sized Gitmo. Regardless of how many criminals were caught or not, how many innocent people who committed no crimes and had no chance to defense themselves have to lose their rights and possibly their lives in the name of "safety"?
Yes, the premise is absolutely ridiculous here. A country where you might be safer from homicide (doubtful) but where the government can just imprison anybody at will, and is abusing that power daily - this is not the safest country in Latin America, not by a long shot.
El Salvador shows that the classic Western idea of civil rights has problems in certain societies.
Example: the judicial system only works if there are people willing to testify and judge. And of course there must be evidence.
Without those things the judiciary is pretty worthless. The idea is that most people are willing to testify and the criminals are unwilling to threaten witnesses etc is in line with Western European norms...but Western Europe is small and getting smaller every day.
Honestly, then the fix is to educate your population and make them feel safe enough so they will testify. Maybe a massive decrease in crime is just one way to get to that point after which you can return to a more sane equilibrium. Are you actually advocating for a permanent end to your civil rights?
> The idea is that most people are willing to testify and the criminals are unwilling to threaten witnesses etc is in line with Western European norms
Not many westerners are willing to testify against Western war crimes in middle east and Africa, for example, and the ones that do go to jail for many years. I'm latinoamerican, btw.
Enlightened dictatorships and associated authoritarian measures can work extremely well but with the risk that things go for the worse when the leadership goes mad, corrupt or impotent. They are efficient but fragile systems. Democracies and associated soft policies are less efficient at solving problems and might not work at all if the society is too corrupt but seem to be more robust long term.
Great! That's fantastic. Despite some obvious flaws, the government has significantly improved the quality of life for most citizens.
And now, Bukele needs an off ramp. There needs to be a clear plan to transition the country away from authoritarianism while maintaining a strong security stance against gangs.
If they can't pull off a soft landing then we'll see the flaws in this type of approach.
Bukele's 90+% approval rating (as measured by independent pollsters not controlled by gov't, AFAIK nobody claims those numbers to be wrong) supports the claim. If ordinary Salvadorans weren't seeing a massive improvement in their daily lives, he wouldn't be so popular. Also murder is easy to track, it's hard to hide a death, community and local news will notice. (El Salvador has independent media critical of the gov't, for example https://elfaro.net/ )
Chavez had similar approval ratings at some point. He even won fair elections actually. I don't believe for a second that thee numbers are real. It might hard to hide a death, but not recognising it as a murder is actually pretty easy.
Chavez approval ratings could be tied to oil prices and declining poverty rates. As long as oil prices were high approval ratings followed. It worked until the collapse of oil prices.
People talk about a tradeoff between freedom and security, but El Salvador shows this framing is incomplete. When you are extorted, robbed, confined, gunned down, etc., it doesn't matter much whether the culprits wear gang tattoos or police vests. El Salvador appears to have traded one group of thugs for a new, much more pleasant set. Full civil liberties would of course be ideal, but failing that, this is a massive improvement. Bukele is a true hero!
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 74.7 ms ] threadA factual headline would be something like "despite improvements, El Salvador still dangerous".
The reason they don't do this is because they know the question will draw more readers. It's kind of click bait, and the fact it's such common practice is the whole reason for Betteridge's Law.
yes, on paper
Example: the judicial system only works if there are people willing to testify and judge. And of course there must be evidence.
Without those things the judiciary is pretty worthless. The idea is that most people are willing to testify and the criminals are unwilling to threaten witnesses etc is in line with Western European norms...but Western Europe is small and getting smaller every day.
Not many westerners are willing to testify against Western war crimes in middle east and Africa, for example, and the ones that do go to jail for many years. I'm latinoamerican, btw.
And now, Bukele needs an off ramp. There needs to be a clear plan to transition the country away from authoritarianism while maintaining a strong security stance against gangs.
If they can't pull off a soft landing then we'll see the flaws in this type of approach.
We did for a long time, but availability of independent media is declining. Some months ago El Faro moved its headquarters to Costa Rica