December 2024: The Safest Month in El Salvador in Over Five Decades

Based on homicides, December 2024 is the safest month in El Salvador in over 50-plus years. December ended with one homicide for a 0.03 daily rate and achieved 30 days with zero homicides.

December ended with three less homicides and three more day with zero homicides than October 2024, the previous safest month in El Salvador.

October concluded with 4 homicides for a 0.13 daily rate and achieved 27 days with zero homicides.

The safest months in El Salvador do not include the deaths of alleged gang members who have died in confrontations with the Salvadoran National Police or military security forces, 120 in 2022, 38 in 2023, and five in 2024.

El Salvador’s security has drastically improved to new low levels since Nayib Bukele became president on June 1, 2019. For example, December 2024 is the 33rd consecutive month that the daily homicide rate for the country has been under one.

Furthermore, December 2024 is the 21st month under both Bukele administrations in which the daily homicide rate has been 0.50 or lower. It is an impressive accomplishment considering that in June 2019, the month Bukele took office, the daily murder rate was 7.70.

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Also, under the current administration, El Salvador has achieved over 755 days with zero homicides.

The days with zero homicides in El Salvador are remarkable, considering that before the Nayib Bukele Administration, El Salvador had experienced less than five days with zero homicides in 15 years.

Since the 90s, Salvadorans have grappled with persistent security concerns, navigating challenges that impact daily life. However, in 2024, life in El Salvador is better since security has improved.

Reduction in homicides is one of the main achievements of the Nayib Bukele administration.

Salvadoran authorities credit the implementation of the Territorial Control Plan and the State of Exception launched on March 27, 2022, for the impressive homicide reduction. Both plans have allowed Salvadoran authorities to remove gang members from the streets.

The Territorial Control Plan launched in 2019 has seven phases: Preparation, opportunity, modernization, incursion, extraction, and integration. Phase seven is unknown at this time.

The State of Exception was approved last March by the Legislative Assembly at the request of Bukele. Since then, the number of homicides has dropped substantially.

During this exception regime, more than 80,000 people have been detained – suspected of being gang members or collaborators. The controversial security measure has been extended over 30 consecutive times.

National and international human rights organizations have criticized the Regime of Exception for human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, and the death of inmates in prisons.

However, surveys conducted during the State of Exception have shown that the majority of Salvadorans approve of this controversial measure.