In San Salvador, the dancers take over Liberty Square at the end of the afternoon, when the heat begins to fade: the criminal gangs who controlled the place have given way to cumba steps and boleros.
“Here, the atmosphere is good. I make even the lame dance,” jokes Sonia Isabel Aguilar, who at 75 waltzes in her flower-printed fabric skirt.
After 14 months of “war” against the “maras”, these criminal gangs that have reigned terror in the country, Salvadorans are enthusiastically rediscovering the pleasure of strolling in the streets.
The onlookers encourage with coins the musicians of the Cuscatlan group who distill the popular tunes that delight Yajaira. “I have music in my blood”, says the septuagenarian for whom dancing makes “forget the sorrows”: eleven years ago her 31-year-old son Carlos Antonio Cornejo was killed, probably by “mareros” , leaving behind a little orphan, now 15 years old.
Since parliament, controlled by supporters of President Nayib Bukele, approved the state of emergency in March 2022, nearly 69,000 suspected members of the “maras” have been arrested, without warrants, and thrown in prison.
After the civil war that ravaged El Salvador from 1980 to 1992, the “maras” took control of the country. Authorities estimate that they committed 12,000 murders, about 45,000 more than during the armed conflict.
No wonder if, despite criticism from human rights NGOs and the Catholic Church of the expeditious nature of the method used, 9 out of 10 Salvadorans approve of the merciless “war” on crime declared by the President Bukele.
The Salvadorans had become accustomed to living barricaded in their homes at nightfall: until recently, people risked their lives by venturing to pass from a territory controlled by one gang to that of another.
This was the case of Liberty Square in San Salvador. Enclosed by the galleries of majestic buildings, control of this square in the historic center of the capital was disputed by the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18: the two most feared criminal gangs in the country made a reign of terror there by extorting shopkeepers… and of course, there was no question of dancing there.
Now, there are a hundred of them wiggling their hips to the rhythm of the effervescence distilled by the Cuscatlan orchestra, while Salvadorans and tourists take over the bars that surround the square and its surroundings.
“The historic center is reborn. It is now one of the safest places in the country”, welcomes the mayor of the Salvadoran capital Mario Duran. Before, “it was the most dangerous place. It was (a zone) red with red,” he recently told local television.
While the state waged war against the “maras”, the municipal authorities also chased away some 3,500 itinerant traders who cluttered the sidewalks of the city center.
“There is more security. We can now come and sit in the public gardens,” confirms Teresa Belloso, 66, who is waiting for a rider to start dancing in turn.
05/25/2023 15:51:34 – San Salvador (AFP) – © 2023 AFP