{"id":3689,"date":"2026-07-22T15:37:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=3689"},"modified":"2026-07-22T15:37:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:37:32","slug":"dont-believe-the-narrative-the-el-salvador-beyond-the-headlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hometransferguide.com\/?p=3689","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Believe The Narrative: The El Salvador Beyond The Headlines"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador \u2014<\/strong><\/em> My first day in El Salvador coincided with the Day of the Faithful Departed, when families gathered to remember loved ones lost \u2014 a ritual familiar to everyone but the wide-eyed toddlers after generations of violence. <\/p>

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After dropping my bags at the hotel, I headed to a nearby cemetery to experience the tradition myself. Families sat beside graves, sharing meals with the dead or repainting tombs in bright colors, until I came upon a wall of armed security.<\/p>

Behind it, silently paying his respects, stood President Nayib Bukele.<\/p>

Bukele remains controversial abroad over alleged human rights abuses, the suspension of due process, and the imprisonment of roughly one percent of the population. But nearly every Salvadoran I met adored him. (RELATED: From Bloodshed To Bukele: A Timeline Of El Salvador\u2019s War, Gangs And Crackdown)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

The admiration was everywhere. Vendors sold Bukele bobbleheads and figurines, while one popular pupusa shop displayed murals of the president alongside prints of his tweets.<\/p>

\u201cI put him in my prayers, asking God to watch over him and keep him safe wherever he goes, because he\u2019s a gorgeous man. I have a photo of him in my house,\u201d an elderly fish vendor told me, pointing to a photo of Bukele and joking that he was her husband. <\/p>

\u201cEverything changed \u2014 the bitterness we had, the suffering, everything,\u201d she said. \u201cLook at him.\u201d<\/p>

Xiomara, another local, praised Bukele\u2019s crackdown on crime. <\/p>

\u201cHe\u2019s going step by step, and the first step was security. God willing, we think for our generations it\u2019s going to be the best thing,\u201d she said. \u201cFor the new generations, it will be better than for us, who lived through the war and crime.\u201d<\/p>

Bukele\u2019s support is more than anecdotal. Polls put his approval rating at 87 percent. Meanwhile, constitutional changes have cleared the way for him to seek reelection indefinitely. <\/p>

Many people credit that popularity to his willingness to dismantle the country\u2019s gangster oligarchy by any means necessary. But they also identify something less visible than the mass arrests that dominate international headlines.<\/p>

While global media focuses on CECOT, the mega-prison used to house gang members \u2014 admittedly compelling television \u2014 the impact on everyday Salvadorans is less dramatic but more tangible. They see prisoners in yellow uniforms rebuilding schools, cleaning public squares, and improving their communities. (RELATED: My Exclusive Interviews With El Salvador\u2019s Most Dangerous Criminals)<\/strong><\/p>

That is because punishment in El Salvador is not always confined to a prison cell.<\/p>

Nonviolent offenders can reduce their sentences by working, with every two days of labor shaving a day off their time. Many of those inmates are sent to Santa Ana Penal Industrial Farm, a low-security, open-air prison built around one motto: Cero Ocio<\/em> \u2014 \u201cZero Idleness.\u201d<\/p>

The prison is almost entirely self-sustaining. Under the supervision of fellow inmates and only a handful of guards, prisoners farm crops, raise livestock and poultry, catch fish, and prepare their own meals.<\/p>

During my afternoon tour, I ate a three-course meal prepared entirely by inmates, admired impressive oil paintings of St. Michael the Archangel slaying Satan, lost a chess match to a member of the prison\u2019s award-winning team, and even milked one of the prison\u2019s cows.<\/p>

Some inmates simply helped maintain the prison itself, but many worked on projects that served the rest of the country. Inside one massive textile factory, inmates produced clothing for prisoners, police officers, and schoolchildren. As one shift ended, another immediately took its place, keeping the factory running around the clock.<\/p>

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Elsewhere, inmates operated heavy-duty woodworking and metalworking equipment that would make any other warden nervous. They built school desks, playground equipment, and other materials that would be distributed across the country.<\/p>

I spoke with prisoners throughout the day, often at random. Nearly all said they were grateful for the chance to serve their communities while learning skills they could use after their release. Eventually, I began to wonder whether they had been coached.<\/p>

Later, when I found myself alone with one inmate and the whine of buzz saws and blowtorches drowned out our conversation, I asked him directly whether everyone was simply repeating what they had been told to say.<\/p>

He laughed.<\/p>

Prison was still prison, he admitted. But the gratitude I had been hearing, he insisted, was genuine.<\/p>

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Many inmates remained inside the compound, while others worked on projects across the country. Some were helping build a Christmas village in San Salvador\u2019s historic district; many more were renovating schools.<\/p>

Bukele\u2019s administration has set a goal of rebuilding two schools every day.<\/p>

I visited one school still under construction and another that had just been completed.<\/p>

The transformation was obvious. Children studied and played on equipment bearing the prison\u2019s logo. One little girl, mistaking me for the president, smiled and told me the school was now \u201cbeautiful.\u201d<\/p>

But the more consequential change was visible in the parents.<\/p>

When gangs controlled these neighborhoods, they said, fathers were often too afraid to walk their children to school for fear of encountering MS-13 or Barrio 18. Many mothers kept their children home.<\/p>

\u201cIn my case, I have older children. They\u2019ve already studied here, too, and for me, it used to be a problem going out with them. But now, thanks to everything that\u2019s being done, we can go out with them without worry,\u201d one mother told me while picking up her child.<\/p>

Another woman had fled El Salvador after high school and only recently returned after hearing the country had changed.<\/p>

She said she once felt like \u201ca little ant walking on the street\u201d and regularly witnessed people being stabbed on her way to school.<\/p>

\u201cI was always afraid. I still have nightmares of blood because of that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut now it\u2019s wonderful. It\u2019s so wonderful.\u201d<\/p>

The changes extended beyond the schools.<\/p>

Street vendors that once clogged downtown San Salvador had been relocated to shopping centers, making the capital easier to navigate. More striking was what I saw after dark: children playing unattended in the central plaza at 9 p.m. on a school night.<\/p>

\u201cThey can stay until the early hours of the morning. There\u2019s no problem here,\u201d one woman told me after I remarked that such a scene would be almost unimaginable<\/span> in Washington, D.C. (RELATED: How El Salvador Beat The Gang Problem America Still Can\u2019t Control)<\/strong><\/p>

\u201cAt three in the morning, at four in the morning, they can walk around here,\u201d her husband added. \u201cThere is no problem throughout El Salvador today.\u201d<\/p>

However, there is still more work to do. The population centers of the capital are safe and clean, but as you head away from the city, tents and shops in the streets look less well-kept.<\/p>

The country and its people still struggle financially; while they no longer worry about getting shot on the way to work, the median annual salary is a mere $3,600, according to Wage.is.<\/p>

El Salvador is working to improve the financial situation by securing more than $1 billion in investments to develop key areas in San Salvador and Surf City. <\/p>

\u201cWe want to become that country you fall in love with when you visit it \u2026 and afterward you think: why not invest in that person or that country? And then, why not think about living in that country?\u201d Minister of Tourism Morena Valdez told me.<\/p>

El Salvador is still trying to find its economic footing, but the progress is evident. Tourism has doubled its share of the country\u2019s gross domestic product as the government works toward its goal of attracting 5 million visitors annually by 2030.<\/p>

Vice President F\u00e9lix Ulloa acknowledged that much work remained.<\/p>

\u201cWe have the war against the gangs nearly won,\u201d he said. \u201cNow it\u2019s on us to construct.\u201d<\/p>

If you want to learn more, watch the new Daily Caller documentary \u201cInside CECOT: The World\u2019s Most Dangerous Prison<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>

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