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Homicides Already Exceed
2,040 This Year in El Salvador
Between January and July this
year 2,040 homicides were
committed in El Salvador, over
500 more than the 1,501 recorded
for the same period last year,
the National Civil Police (PNC)
announced Tuesday.
The 375 murders reported in July
increased the number of violent
deaths per day from an average
of ten for previous months, to
12.
Ricardo Meneses, Chief of the
PNC, said they have asked the
government for 700 soldiers to
join another 800 already in a
Task Force formed to deal with
the problem.
For his part Rene Figueroa,
Minister of the Interior, said
he has ordered the adoption of
various measures to reduce
criminal activity, such as
police patrols in different
areas of the country.
Juveniles are responsible for 55
percent of homicides in El
Salvador, 38 percent result from
personal quarrels, four percent
are related to other criminal
behaviour, and the remaining
three percent to drug
trafficking, according to the
official.
Opposition party Frente
Farabundo Martí para la
Liberación (FMLN) condemned the
fact that the measures
introduced by President Elias
Antonio Saca increase the
repression of alleged juvenile
delinquents, but he fails to
introduce policies capable of
helping them.
Similarly, "La Alianza
Republicana Nacionalista", has
also criticized the failure of
the Government´s strategies in
recent years, which have
resulted in juveniles being
sentenced to periods of 14 years
in overcrowded prisons with no
opportunities for study, work,
or rehabilitation.
The United Nations Development
Program estimates that 43
percent of Salvadoreans live in
poverty.
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