Bukele's strong message at the UN: "We returned the streets of the country to our people"
Watch in full the strong speech of the president of El Salvador at the United Nations headquarters.
El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, during the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, defended the results of his anti-gang crusade at the UN on Tuesday, saying it returned tranquility to the country's streets.
"In the last five years El Salvador was reborn, we returned the streets of our country to our people," Bukele said in his speech at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In March 2022 Bukele launched his anti-gang "war" under the cover of an exceptional regime under which 82,000 alleged gang members have been detained.
"Some say that we have imprisoned thousands, but the reality is that we have freed millions. Now it is the good guys who live free, without fear, with their freedoms and human rights fully respected," Bukele maintained.
"We made our nation that was the homicide capital of the world, the safest country in the entire Western Hemisphere. It was the greatest challenge that our nation has overcome," he added. The governor affirmed that El Salvador used to be the "most violent country in the world without war or the country of the maras" (gangs), but this changed with his crusade.
"We returned the streets of our country, our people and established a thriving tourism industry, hosting international events, surfing, sports, entertainment. We gave thousands of Salvadorans who fled wars and poverty a country to return to," he said.
Political freedoms and freedom of expression
In spite of the constant attempts of supranational organizations -some calling themselves "human rights" organizations- to delegitimize Bukele's government, the president of El Salvador reminded that in his country political freedoms and freedom of expression are imposed.
"In El Salvador we do not imprison our opposition, we do not censor opinions, we do not confiscate property of those who think differently, we do not arrest people for expressing their ideas"
"In El Salvador, your freedom of expression, as well as your private property, will always be protected", he added.
Watch Nayib Bukele's full speech at the UN
The president of El Salvador shared on social networks his speech in full. Here you can access it:
LATEST
