Will neighbouring countries follow El Salvador's lead on crime?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2024
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In February this year, El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele won re-election with nearly 85% of the vote. His flagship policy after he came to power in 2019 has been the mass arrest of thousands of alleged gang members, mainly young men.
It is estimated that over 100,000 people are now behind bars as part of his crime crackdown. The round-ups have been hugely popular with El Salvador's people as it has improved security and neighbouring countries are taking note.
But critics say following Bukele's approach could threaten democracy, not just in El Salvador but across the continent. So on this week’s Inquiry, we’re asking: Will neighbouring countries follow El Salvador's lead on crime?
Contributors: Carlos Dada, director of El Faro, an online newspaper based in El Salvador Katherine Saunders-Hastings, a lecturer in Latin American Studies at the University of London's Institute of the Americas. Will Freeman, Fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York. Monica Pachon , a political scientist and professor at the University of the Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.
Presenter: David Baker Producer: Farhana Haider Journalism Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley and Liam Morrey
Image Credit: Alex Peña / Stringer via Getty Images
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and trust me you'll get there in a moment but if you're a comedy fan |
| 0:05.2 | I'd really like to tell you a bit about what we do. I'm Julie Mackenzie and I commission comedy |
| 0:10.1 | podcast at the BBC. It's a bit of a dream job really. Comedy is a bit of a dream job really. |
| 0:13.0 | Comedy is a fantastic joyous thing to do because really you're making people laugh, |
| 0:18.0 | making people's days a bit better, helping them process, all manner of things. |
| 0:22.0 | But you know, I also know that comedy is really |
| 0:24.3 | subjective and everyone has different tastes. So we've got a huge range of comedy on offer from |
| 0:29.8 | satire to silly, shocking to soothing, profound to just general pratting about. So if you |
| 0:36.1 | fancy a laugh, find your next comedy at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | Hi, Namalanta Kombo here with some very exciting news. Dear Daughter is back for a |
| 0:46.1 | new series. I'm putting together a handbook to life for daughters everywhere |
| 0:50.3 | full of stories and advice to help navigate life. |
| 0:53.0 | That's dear daughter from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:56.0 | Find it wherever you get your BBC podcast. |
| 1:00.0 | Welcome to the inquiry on the BBC World Service with me David Baker. |
| 1:05.0 | Each week one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. In February this year, El Salvador's president, Naeib Bukelli, one re-election with nearly 85% of the vote. His flagship policy has been the |
| 1:28.2 | mass arrest of thousands of alleged gang members. We think that the total incarcerated population of El Salvador is approximately |
| 1:37.2 | 105,000 people, 1.7% of the Salvadoran population. |
| 1:43.8 | The roundups have been hugely popular |
| 1:46.0 | with El Salvador's people, |
| 1:47.9 | and neighboring countries are taking note. |
| 1:50.4 | In Chile, for instance, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.