Bukele weighs early release for half of El Salvador's 93,000 gang-war prisoners

El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, is weighing an "early release" that would cover half of the 93,000 inmates held in his gang crackdown, according to a report by ABC. If confirmed, the move would mark the biggest shift yet in the hardline policy that underpins his popularity.

## What the report says

**Nayib Bukele** is considering an "early release" for half of the **93,000** inmates held in the gang crackdown. **ABC** reports the story, attributing the assessment to the president himself. The figure is no small one: we are talking about some **46,500** prisoners, more than the entire prison population of many countries in the region.

The news comes after years of mass incarceration that turned El Salvador into the country with the highest imprisonment rate in the world. The report alone does not confirm that the measure will actually be carried out.

## Why it matters

The state of exception, renewed month after month since **2022**, has allowed arrests without a judicial order and has kept inmates without a final conviction. That framework explains how the figure of **93,000** prisoners coexists with an overwhelmed justice system.

An early release on that scale would affect thousands of people who have not been sentenced. It would also raise the question of what happens to those who have already served their sentences or were never convicted. It is legally delicate ground, and the letter of the law should be watched closely before anything is taken for granted.

## The open questions

No one knows the timetable, the selection criteria, or whether the measure would require changing the law. Nor whether it would apply to those convicted of gang membership or only to those with no proven charges.

Bukele built his political capital on security. Such a shift would be read either as a course correction or as simple prison management. Depending on how it is communicated, it could cost him or win him support.