Should Latin America replicate El Salvador’s President Bukele’s crackdown on gangs? | The Economist (Level 1)

Nayib Bukele is the president of El Salvador. He is very popular. Before him, many people were murdered by gangs. He put many gang members in prison. Now the murder rate is much lower, like in Canada. But he did this in a bad way. He broke the rules of law. Anyone could be arrested without a fair trial. He also took control of the courts and parliament. This damaged democracy. Some people ask if other countries can do the same. The answer is not simple. In El Salvador, the gangs forced people to pay money. People hated this, so they helped the police. But in other places, the problem is drugs like cocaine. Farmers grow coca to make money because it pays well. People want to buy cocaine. If you stop one group, another group takes over. In Colombia, many drug fields were destroyed, but farmers planted new ones. So a tough approach alone may not work.