El Salvador’s Catholic bishops have warned of the risk of turning the Central American nation into a “large international prison”. Source: CNA.
In a May 29 pastoral letter, the Salvadoran Bishops’ Conference stated that their intention was not “to contradict the national authorities, as we are well aware of the efforts they are making to govern the country for the benefit of the people”.
They also make it clear that their observations are not in support of “any partisan ideological interest, nor to the interests of powerful groups. What truly moves us is the good of the people.”
“With our voice, we want to make audible the cries of the poor people and the vast majority whose rights are violated, perhaps not with malicious intent; but violated, because in the midst of such an intense reality, it can happen that their barely perceptible voice may not be audible,” the letter reads.
Specifically, the prelates asked Salvadoran authorities “not to use our country’s prisons for victims of the anti-immigrant policies of foreign powers.”
In their letter, they pointedly criticise the stance taken following the visit of United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February, when El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, offered to receive “dangerous American criminals, including US citizens,” as well as “illegal immigrants from any other country” at the Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT, by its Spanish acronym) instead of deporting them to their home country.
The CECOT, popularly known as the “mega-prison,” is a maximum-security prison inaugurated in January 2023 and capable of holding up to 40,000 inmates.
“We ask our leaders not to promote this country as if it were a large international prison. We implore them to think carefully about what they’re doing. Bringing in major criminals could become a danger to our population as well as earn this nation a bad international reputation,” the bishops warned.
As an alternative, they called for “promoting a pro-migrant policy, with the borders open to migrants and integration into the economy as a labour force. Furthermore, a portion of the Salvadoran population is also migrants, and we would not like our fellow citizens to be imprisoned in other nations.”
FULL STORY
Bishops of El Salvador oppose country being used as ‘international prison’ (By Diego López Colín, CNA)
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