Salvadoran Army Personnel. Image source Defence Minister Rene Francis Merino Monroy swore in 1,400 new members of the Armed Forces to join the execution of the Territorial Control Plan. The soldiers will assist the Salvadoran National Police in the fight against criminal organizations.
The newly sworn-in contingent of soldiers will join the ranks of the Salvadoran Armed Forces and will reinforce the security actions of the Territorial Control Plan alongside police officers.
The new military personnel has spent 15 weeks undergoing strict training and, according to Minister Monroy, can participate in any of the different phases of the Territorial Control Plan.
In phase three of the Nayib BukeleTerritorial Control Plan, the number of soldiers assigned to security tasks has increased to more than 17,000.
President Nayib Bukele has stated on many occasions that the war against the gangs will continue until all criminals get arrested.
President Bukele wants to double the number of soldiers to 40,000 by 2024. His goal is for the soldiers to help stop gang violence and eliminate these criminal groups.
We will double our Armed Forces in the next five years, starting today. Every fifteen weeks, a group of new soldiers will enter. We received it with 15,000; with this graduation, we will have 20,000, and the new order is to take it to 40,000 brave and patriotic men and women.” President Bukele.
In 2021, the president confirmed that the gangs are the country’s greatest internal enemy. To confront them, he urged Defense Minister René Merino to double the Salvadoran military personnel.
This graduation is part of the plan executed by Defence Minister Merino Monroy to increase the number of soldiers helping with security.
Complying with the order of President Nayib Bukele to double the number of members of the Salvadoran armed forces, on this day, 1,400 recruits were sworn in and will soon join the Plan Control Territorial to win the war against gangs,” Rene Merino Monroy.
The efforts of the Salvadoran Army and the national police have reduced the homicide rate in El Salvador. The majority of Salvadorans approve of the security efforts made by the Bukele administration.
