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Richard Madeley: Inside the Worlds Mega Prison
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00:00:16This road that we're on from the capital, San Salvador, to the world's toughest prison,
00:00:22housing the world's most dangerous prisoners, this is the last journey that most of these guys will
00:00:28have made. I suppose what I'm wondering is, if this prison and the way it's run is something
00:00:37that we would like to see back in Britain, or if it's so harsh, its rules are so unrelenting
00:00:44and bleak, that it's a step, maybe more than a step, too far.
00:00:53And what's that to the wire? I think we're just coming, it's coming into the air. Wow, it's big.
00:01:10It is actually quite intimidating. Holy cow. This is full-on.
00:01:28El Salvador was a killing field during its civil war. Now there's a fresh horror.
00:01:35El Salvador used to be a battlefield where three gangs fought for supremacy.
00:01:42Is this where guys were lined up and shot? Yes. So this is an execution war. Every 10 yards,
00:01:49you go to a haunted spot where men were killed. Under emergency measures, more than 20,000 people
00:01:56have been arrested. It was an unprecedented crackdown on gangs by El Salvador's authoritarian
00:02:02President Niall Kelly. Sometimes they say that we prison thousands. I like to say that we actually
00:02:08liberated millions. Jay, I have one hell of a president.
00:02:15These guys are serious, serious gangsters. And look at them now.
00:02:22This man's killed 12 people. And tortured them and killed them.
00:02:25They were kids, pregnant women. You killed 30 people.
00:02:29Yeah. The country's new mega prison is the largest in Latin America.
00:02:34Space for 40,000.
00:02:37I mean, this is like no other prison I've ever seen. It's profoundly shocking.
00:02:43We are here patrolling because there are some guys who they were able to escape.
00:02:49You haven't got them all? Yeah.
00:02:51But with almost 2% of the entire population now behind bars,
00:02:55some say the cost in human rights is very high.
00:02:59It's a heck of a price, isn't it?
00:03:02And I just wonder if anything like this could happen in the UK.
00:03:07OK.
00:03:25I'm in El Salvador, a country in Central America that recently was seen as the murder capital
00:03:32of the world.
00:03:35Just 10 years ago, it was ravaged by gang violence.
00:03:39And it had a murder rate 90 times higher than the UK.
00:03:44Today, those figures have plummeted.
00:03:47It's now one of the safest countries in Latin America.
00:03:50And statistically, it's even safer than the United States.
00:03:58The one thing I was able to tell my family before I got on a plane here
00:04:02was that I was coming to a safe country.
00:04:04This is not the El Salvador of five years ago, 10 years ago.
00:04:08It's not.
00:04:09It's the safest country in Central America.
00:04:15But what price have they paid to attain that?
00:04:19And is it a price that you can really live with?
00:04:24It's under the leadership of their self-proclaimed dictator, President Nayib Bukele,
00:04:29that El Salvador has been transformed.
00:04:32Thousands of gang members have been labeled as terrorists and locked up.
00:04:39Tomorrow is the start of my visit to the prison that is the centerpiece of his war on gangs.
00:04:51The next morning, we follow government officials who strictly control access inside the prison.
00:05:01We're not being naive here.
00:05:02It doesn't matter what country on the planet you live in.
00:05:05We all live with a degree of government spin.
00:05:08I'm going to do my best to look past that.
00:05:11We're driving 90 minutes outside of the capital, San Salvador,
00:05:16to the prison that's gained a reputation as the most controversial in the world.
00:05:22I mean, it's incredibly strict, but they say it's not cruel.
00:05:25They say there's no torture, there's no violence.
00:05:28It seems somewhat improbable that there's no violence in a prison housing
00:05:32and tens of thousands of incredibly dangerous criminals.
00:05:37And now we've seen we've got armed guards about every, what, 50, 60 yards
00:05:43stationed on both sides of the road.
00:05:46It is actually quite intimidating to see so many, so many armed guards.
00:05:52I mean, I guess we must have passed 50 on the way here
00:05:56in about a space of half a mile, three quarters of a mile.
00:06:01Located at the foot of the San Vicente Volcano,
00:06:04this is the centre for the confinement of terrorism,
00:06:08otherwise known as CICOT.
00:06:16Opened in 2023, it was built to hold up to 40,000 violent gang members.
00:06:24After months of negotiations with the authorities,
00:06:27we are set to be the first British documentary film crew
00:06:30inside the prison.
00:06:32We've been working with Alejandro, a local translator, to gain access.
00:06:38What do you think?
00:06:40I'm taken aback at the amount of security.
00:06:43I didn't expect there'd be so many armed soldiers.
00:06:46Yes.
00:06:47All the way back to the main road.
00:06:57I'm taken through the state-of-the-art security measures
00:07:00by prison director Belamino Garcia.
00:07:04He says it's impossible to smuggle anything in.
00:07:09Has anyone ever managed to smuggle a phone in?
00:07:12No, nadie.
00:07:13Nadie.
00:07:14Drugs?
00:07:14Drogas?
00:07:16Nada.
00:07:17Can he come to England, please?
00:07:19Tiene que si puede venir to Inglaterra también.
00:07:24Even if mobile phones could be smuggled in,
00:07:26they wouldn't work.
00:07:29The whole of the prison is protected by a kind of dome,
00:07:32an electronic bubble,
00:07:34which stops any phone signals getting in or getting out.
00:07:38I begin to notice that many of the guards are covering their faces.
00:07:42Even my local film crew insist on wearing masks.
00:07:45It says a lot about the sense of fear that still lingers,
00:07:49even with the gang members firmly locked up.
00:07:54Why do your security people have face masks, son?
00:08:08Why doesn't he wear a mask?
00:08:14Tengo que decirles qué hacer, cuåndo hacer, cómo hacerlo.
00:08:18Entonces yo tengo que ir hacia ellos, hablar cara a cara con ellos.
00:08:23We're going now to the cells.
00:08:26To the actual prison?
00:08:27Yes.
00:08:28We're going to get in the bus.
00:08:29The bus?
00:08:29Yes.
00:08:34I can't conceive of a jail in the UK so big
00:08:39that you have to get into a bus
00:08:41once you've got inside the prison walls.
00:08:45This sprawling complex is the size of 32 football pitchers.
00:08:51I count that as the fourth, no, the fifth steel gate
00:08:55that we've gone through.
00:08:56And this is the sixth double steel gate we've gone through.
00:09:02Finally, we arrive at one of the eight prison blocks.
00:09:06Inside each one, there are 32 cells housing the inmates.
00:09:12Are those the cells?
00:09:13SĂ.
00:09:14OK, they look like huge aircraft hangars.
00:09:18But what will it be like to be in the same room
00:09:21as 3,000 highly violent men at such close quarters?
00:09:27I'm apprehensive.
00:09:40It's hard to grasp the scale of it.
00:09:46In front of me are multiple cells,
00:09:49each with over a hundred prisoners staring back at me.
00:10:00It's more of a shock than I expected.
00:10:07Whatever the reason that these men are here,
00:10:10we accept that they're very, very dangerous criminals.
00:10:14This is a terrible sight.
00:10:17It plucks at the heart.
00:10:22These lights stay on all night.
00:10:26It's 24 hours.
00:10:30Why?
00:10:31Why?
00:10:32Why?
00:10:32It's simply part of the security protocol
00:10:34because I need to be seeing what they're doing
00:10:38in the lockdown.
00:10:39And not only that,
00:10:42they sleep in those multiniveles
00:10:51inside this giant hangar,
00:10:53there is a low hum,
00:10:54but it's eerily quiet.
00:10:59Why aren't any of these men calling out?
00:11:04Nobody has a book
00:11:05or a newspaper
00:11:07or a screen of any kind.
00:11:10There's nothing.
00:11:12Is that strictly necessary?
00:11:15They can have a Bible.
00:11:18Yes.
00:11:19But that's it.
00:11:19That's it.
00:11:20Everyone here,
00:11:22all of these men,
00:11:24are going to die here.
00:11:26None of them are ever coming out.
00:11:27AsĂ es.
00:11:28Vinieron para quedarse,
00:11:30para pagar cada uno de los crĂmenes que han cometido.
00:11:32So this is their present
00:11:34and their future
00:11:37and their death.
00:11:38AsĂ es.
00:11:41I've never seen anything like this
00:11:43in my entire life
00:11:45and it's going to take a while to process it
00:11:48because the reality
00:11:51of seeing
00:11:533,000 men
00:11:55in cells
00:11:56on metal bunks
00:11:58with nothing to do
00:12:00at all
00:12:02is one hell of a thing to see.
00:12:11Suddenly I'm being taken
00:12:12to a side room.
00:12:15This is where they talk to the lawyers?
00:12:17Yes.
00:12:19Some have criticised
00:12:21this legal process
00:12:22with government footage
00:12:23showing mass trials
00:12:25of almost 500 prisoners
00:12:27taking place
00:12:27via video link.
00:12:31I'm being shown
00:12:32one of the smaller
00:12:33in-house virtual courtrooms.
00:12:38Señor director
00:12:39told us
00:12:40that no one's ever
00:12:41been released from here.
00:12:42So what's
00:12:43the point
00:12:44of these meetings?
00:12:45Lo que pasa
00:12:46es que muchos de ellos
00:12:47estĂĄn siendo procesados.
00:12:49Hay que probar
00:12:50ante el juez
00:12:51las acusaciones que tienen ellos.
00:12:54I wonder
00:12:55if these men
00:12:56feel they're getting
00:12:56a fair hearing.
00:13:00Is it possible
00:13:01for me to speak
00:13:01to these men?
00:13:02No.
00:13:02No.
00:13:03All the men
00:13:04in the cells outside?
00:13:05No.
00:13:06No.
00:13:07Why can't I
00:13:08even say
00:13:09hello or goodbye
00:13:10to these men?
00:13:10Parte del protocol.
00:13:12Protocol.
00:13:12It's the protocol.
00:13:13OK.
00:13:13It's the unbreakable rule.
00:13:14It is the unbreakable rule.
00:13:16The director
00:13:16is clearly keen
00:13:17to defend the prison
00:13:18against my questions
00:13:20on the inmates' conditions.
00:13:23So he wants
00:13:24to make emphasis
00:13:25on the human rights.
00:13:26They have food.
00:13:27They have basic needs.
00:13:28They have health.
00:13:30And they can continue
00:13:31all the legal processes.
00:13:32La alimentaciĂłn.
00:13:34Food, yeah.
00:13:34Alimentation.
00:13:35Agua.
00:13:35They have everything.
00:13:36All the basic needs.
00:13:38I still feel the need
00:13:39to press him
00:13:40on why they must be
00:13:41so harsh.
00:13:44And he doesn't accept
00:13:45that many people
00:13:47who would support
00:13:49life in prison
00:13:50for the crimes
00:13:51that these men
00:13:52have permitted
00:13:52would say
00:13:53to see having
00:13:54the lights on
00:13:5424-7,
00:13:56never even dimming
00:13:57them,
00:13:57and having nothing
00:13:59at all to do
00:14:00in the cell,
00:14:01apart from the Bible,
00:14:02that's not remotely cruel.
00:14:08Unnecessary cruelty.
00:14:10Unnecessary cruelty.
00:14:11Unnecessary cruelty.
00:14:11Unnecessary to have control.
00:14:13The pace suddenly quickens
00:14:15and we're being hurried around.
00:14:17Perhaps asking
00:14:18about conditions here
00:14:19is pushing too far.
00:14:22that he can't understand
00:14:24why it can be interpreted
00:14:26as something cruel
00:14:26like this.
00:14:28Pero me imagino
00:14:30de donde usted viene
00:14:31la cultura es diferente.
00:14:33Then, suddenly,
00:14:35we're asked
00:14:35to stop filming.
00:14:38PerdĂłn,
00:14:39Âżpuedes dejar de filmar
00:14:40en este momento?
00:14:43I think I may have
00:14:44overstepped the mark.
00:14:46Are we done then?
00:14:48We're done.
00:14:59I'm in El Salvador
00:15:00at the world's most
00:15:01controversial prison,
00:15:03SICOT.
00:15:06Full of the most dangerous
00:15:08and violent men
00:15:09in the country,
00:15:09these murderers,
00:15:11rapists,
00:15:12and child killers
00:15:12will spend the rest
00:15:14of their lives here.
00:15:16It's been shocking
00:15:18to see the prisoners
00:15:19in conditions
00:15:19that have been criticised
00:15:21by human rights groups.
00:15:24And my questioning
00:15:25led to some tension.
00:15:28I think you need to talk
00:15:29to the producers here
00:15:30about that.
00:15:31Sorry, sorry.
00:15:32We're done?
00:15:32Yes, we're done.
00:15:33Yes, let's go.
00:15:36And now we've been told
00:15:37we must leave.
00:15:39We haven't come here
00:15:41to make a judgement.
00:15:42But I have to ask
00:15:44difficult questions
00:15:45because if I ask
00:15:47soft questions,
00:15:49people at home go,
00:15:50oh, he's not objective.
00:15:54It's clear
00:15:55the prison director
00:15:56thinks that I haven't
00:15:57grasped how effective
00:15:58his SICOT regime is
00:15:59as a deterrent
00:16:01to the gangs.
00:16:09I'm still hoping
00:16:10to see much more
00:16:11of the prison.
00:16:12But for now,
00:16:13we've been shown the door.
00:16:27In 2015,
00:16:28there were over
00:16:296,500 murders
00:16:31in El Salvador.
00:16:32Ten years later,
00:16:33that figure had dropped
00:16:34to 82.
00:16:37Before I return
00:16:39to SICOT,
00:16:39I'm going to visit
00:16:40a former gang stronghold.
00:16:44Could a once-violent
00:16:45no-go zone
00:16:46really be safe now
00:16:48for outsiders?
00:16:51Right now,
00:16:52we're going to
00:16:52La Campanera,
00:16:54part of the hood
00:16:54that is extremely dangerous.
00:16:57I've never been,
00:16:58personally.
00:16:59I've never been there.
00:17:01La Campanera
00:17:03is on the outskirts
00:17:04of San Salvador,
00:17:05and it was once ruled
00:17:06by the Barrio 18 gang.
00:17:11It was their battle
00:17:12with bitter rivals,
00:17:14MS-13,
00:17:15that led to so much bloodshed.
00:17:18It's thought that the two gangs
00:17:19are responsible
00:17:20for the deaths
00:17:21of at least
00:17:21200,000 people.
00:17:26Formed in the 1980s
00:17:28in Los Angeles,
00:17:29the gangs grew
00:17:30from the men
00:17:30who'd fled the growing
00:17:31civil war.
00:17:34When hostilities
00:17:35ended in 1992,
00:17:37criminal elements
00:17:38were deported
00:17:39from the US
00:17:39back here.
00:17:41Amidst the chaos
00:17:42of a country
00:17:43emerging from war,
00:17:45the gangs flourished.
00:17:49Through the threat
00:17:50of extreme violence,
00:17:52they controlled
00:17:52vast territories,
00:17:54and they ran
00:17:54extortion rackets
00:17:55worth millions.
00:18:05What would have happened
00:18:06if you'd come here
00:18:07back then?
00:18:07Kill me.
00:18:09Did you kill you?
00:18:09Yeah, immediately.
00:18:10Just for coming?
00:18:10Yes, for coming.
00:18:11Did the police
00:18:12or the military
00:18:13ever come here?
00:18:13No.
00:18:15They get killed too?
00:18:16It was completely locked.
00:18:18Everything was controlled.
00:18:19There was people checking.
00:18:21It was very organized.
00:18:24It was in places like this
00:18:25that residents lived
00:18:26under constant surveillance,
00:18:28extortion,
00:18:29and violence.
00:18:31I walk through
00:18:32the tight alleyways.
00:18:35Round every corner,
00:18:36there's a spot
00:18:37with a grim history.
00:18:40So basically here,
00:18:41the people from
00:18:43the neighborhood,
00:18:44one family member,
00:18:45the dad was a cop,
00:18:47and the kid was involved
00:18:48in the gang.
00:18:49They called them here
00:18:50and they killed them here.
00:18:51Every ten yards,
00:18:53you go to a haunted spot,
00:18:55don't you?
00:18:55Yes.
00:18:56You go to a haunted spot
00:18:57where men were killed.
00:18:59It was in areas like this
00:19:00that the gangs would recruit
00:19:02poor and at-risk teenagers.
00:19:06So this is where
00:19:06they would do the initiation.
00:19:08So if you were part
00:19:09of the 18 gang,
00:19:10you would have to,
00:19:11if you were new,
00:19:12you would have to kill
00:19:13people here.
00:19:15The abandoned houses
00:19:16that recently belonged
00:19:17to gang members
00:19:18are being renovated.
00:19:20Graffiti that mark
00:19:21their territory
00:19:22is being painted over.
00:19:24so that any sign
00:19:25of the gang's rule
00:19:26is erased.
00:19:30Here you can see
00:19:31there's some bullet holes.
00:19:33These are big bullet holes.
00:19:34Is this where guys
00:19:35were lined up and shot?
00:19:36Yes.
00:19:37So this is an execution war?
00:19:39Yeah.
00:19:40It's kind of important
00:19:41to realise that
00:19:43all those guys
00:19:43that we've seen
00:19:45in the centre,
00:19:45we've seen behind bars
00:19:46in the prison,
00:19:47this was their patch.
00:19:49This was their fiefdom.
00:19:50And this is where
00:19:51they did a lot
00:19:52of the killing.
00:19:54Alejandro is suddenly nervous
00:19:56and he hurries me along.
00:19:59I think we should,
00:20:00we should walk more
00:20:01because we're still,
00:20:02instead of shooting,
00:20:02we just,
00:20:03I think it's better,
00:20:04just this.
00:20:07Then he explains why.
00:20:09Something to note
00:20:10is that even though
00:20:12right now
00:20:12they're taking control back,
00:20:14there's still family members
00:20:15of gang members
00:20:16still here
00:20:16who are not happy
00:20:17because they have
00:20:18their husband,
00:20:19their kid,
00:20:19whoever are in the centre.
00:20:20Are in the centre.
00:20:24Gang families
00:20:25are still living here
00:20:26so maybe it's not quite
00:20:28as rosy
00:20:29as they would like
00:20:30to present it to us
00:20:31but having said that,
00:20:32this is a part
00:20:33of San Salvador
00:20:34that it would have been insane
00:20:36for people like me,
00:20:38people like my crew
00:20:38to come
00:20:39for any reason at all
00:20:40at any time of day
00:20:41just a few years ago
00:20:42who probably
00:20:43would have been murdered
00:20:44just for being here.
00:20:45that's not over-dramatising it,
00:20:47that's how it was.
00:20:49Despite the tension,
00:20:51the gang's stranglehold
00:20:52on this area
00:20:53has clearly been
00:20:54all but broken.
00:20:56So,
00:20:57will what I've learned here
00:20:58change the way
00:20:59that I see Seacott itself?
00:21:04When I return to the prison,
00:21:06it's in the early hours
00:21:07of the morning.
00:21:10I'm not sure
00:21:11if I'll be welcomed back
00:21:12and on our return,
00:21:14we are stopped
00:21:15at a checkpoint.
00:21:18OK,
00:21:18so this is going to be
00:21:19the first check.
00:21:20They're going to check
00:21:20all the cars
00:21:21and check everything.
00:21:24This is much,
00:21:26much stricter
00:21:27than yesterday.
00:21:33Maybe we did
00:21:33annoy them a bit.
00:21:40We drive back up the road,
00:21:42still lined
00:21:43with armed guards.
00:21:47I mean,
00:21:48the very concept
00:21:50of some kind
00:21:51of rescue squad
00:21:54of gangsters
00:21:55coming here
00:21:55to spring their mates
00:21:56is just preposterous.
00:21:59Getting over those walls,
00:22:01getting past these guys.
00:22:10nice to see you again.
00:22:16As before.
00:22:18I meet up again
00:22:19with the prison's director
00:22:20and once more
00:22:22we go through
00:22:22the strict security.
00:22:27They seem to have,
00:22:29um,
00:22:30seem to have recovered
00:22:31their good humour
00:22:33from yesterday
00:22:34so I don't think
00:22:35we did any lasting damage.
00:22:39Still have a few more
00:22:40frank extraneous to go there.
00:22:45It's approaching 4am
00:22:46and the prisoners
00:22:47are due to be woken up.
00:23:01Most of the,
00:23:01most of the guys
00:23:02are asleep
00:23:03still,
00:23:04so we have to be quiet.
00:23:06Quite a few
00:23:06have covered their faces
00:23:07I think.
00:23:08They've been woken up.
00:23:12So how much sleep
00:23:13have they had?
00:23:27Just in case somebody
00:23:28slipped through the bars
00:23:29in the night?
00:23:29Yes, in case.
00:23:30Okay.
00:23:32What's bizarre
00:23:33is to see
00:23:34how these brutal gang members
00:23:36meekly line up
00:23:37to one side
00:23:38and wait
00:23:39to be told
00:23:39what to do.
00:23:41What strikes me
00:23:42is the
00:23:44absolute obedience
00:23:45of all of these men.
00:23:46They do exactly
00:23:48what they're told.
00:23:49I can't imagine
00:23:50a prison in the UK
00:23:51where prisoners
00:23:52would be
00:23:52this subservient.
00:23:55Why are they
00:23:56so obedient?
00:23:59Discipline.
00:24:00Discipline.
00:24:02You've got to remember
00:24:03that most of these guys
00:24:06are serious,
00:24:07serious gangsters
00:24:08who have a huge amount
00:24:10of control and power
00:24:11in the outside world.
00:24:13Look at them now.
00:24:17And while the counting
00:24:18goes on in this
00:24:20module here,
00:24:21come back to the first one.
00:24:23They haven't moved.
00:24:25Still in exactly
00:24:26the same position.
00:24:27They wait for orders
00:24:28to do everything.
00:24:34With all 32 cells
00:24:35counted,
00:24:36I'm told that this
00:24:37is when the prisoners
00:24:38wash.
00:24:48I'm slightly bad
00:24:49about watching this
00:24:50because, you know,
00:24:51obviously getting naked
00:24:53and there's no screen,
00:24:55no privacy of any kind.
00:24:56I assume the water
00:24:58is cold.
00:25:04This morning schedule
00:25:05is what many
00:25:06of these men
00:25:07have been following
00:25:07for the last three years.
00:25:13In 2023,
00:25:15the government
00:25:15first made
00:25:16a huge public display
00:25:18of holding
00:25:18the gang members
00:25:19at Seacott.
00:25:22Built in just
00:25:23seven months,
00:25:24amid President
00:25:25Bukele's aggressive
00:25:26crackdown,
00:25:2790,000 suspects
00:25:28were arrested.
00:25:51It's all made
00:25:53Bukele,
00:25:53who once called
00:25:54himself the world's
00:25:55coolest dictator,
00:25:57extremely popular.
00:25:58his approval ratings
00:25:59still top
00:26:0090%.
00:26:22In the UK,
00:26:23it's hard to understand
00:26:24the huge impact
00:26:26these caged gang members
00:26:27once had.
00:26:32Inside the cells,
00:26:34sworn enemies
00:26:34from the rival gangs,
00:26:36Barrio 18
00:26:36and MS 13,
00:26:38have been placed
00:26:38together.
00:26:40It's through
00:26:41these tattoo designs
00:26:43that they indicate
00:26:44which gang
00:26:45they're a part of.
00:26:47And you could be in here
00:26:48simply because you had
00:26:50one of these tattoos.
00:26:58And being completely honest,
00:27:03does he see these men
00:27:04as being subhuman?
00:27:11It's chilling to think
00:27:13that just having
00:27:14certain tattoos
00:27:15could leave you
00:27:16behind these bars
00:27:17for life.
00:27:19But it's clear
00:27:20that they are
00:27:21an intrinsic part
00:27:22of gang identity,
00:27:23indicating loyalty,
00:27:25rank,
00:27:25criminal history,
00:27:27or even acting
00:27:27as a stark warning
00:27:29to others.
00:27:49It's a very potent
00:27:50message, isn't it?
00:27:51Yes.
00:27:52They might as well
00:27:52be wearing a shirt
00:27:54that says,
00:27:54I will kill you.
00:27:55Exactly.
00:27:59They are satanic.
00:28:01They worship the devil.
00:28:02Do you think
00:28:03that this man
00:28:03still in his heart
00:28:05follows Satan?
00:28:07Claro que sĂ.
00:28:08Yes.
00:28:10I've been shocked
00:28:12by the number
00:28:12of face tattoos
00:28:13on display.
00:28:16At the beginning,
00:28:17the face tattoos
00:28:17were because
00:28:18of a punishment.
00:28:20A punishment?
00:28:20If they would not
00:28:21complete a task
00:28:22or a mission,
00:28:23they would tattoo
00:28:24the logos
00:28:24in the head,
00:28:25in the face.
00:28:26But then they
00:28:27changed and became
00:28:29a symbol.
00:28:30Then they were muting
00:28:31the type of tattoo
00:28:32and at the end
00:28:34the bandit
00:28:38autorizes
00:28:38their members
00:28:39to tattoo their face
00:28:41but not as a punishment
00:28:42but for an action
00:28:44that they had done
00:28:45for the bandit.
00:28:47It's clear.
00:28:49There are men here
00:28:49that together
00:28:50are responsible
00:28:51for thousands
00:28:52of murders.
00:28:55They are the sicarians
00:28:57of the criminal structure.
00:28:58A lot of homicides.
00:29:00A lot.
00:29:00A lot of killings.
00:29:01A lot of killings.
00:29:02How many?
00:29:03Twelve.
00:29:03This man's killed
00:29:04twelve people.
00:29:05He was part
00:29:06of the capture,
00:29:08the kidnap,
00:29:09torture and killing
00:29:10of four members
00:29:11of the army.
00:29:12And he tortured
00:29:13them and killed them.
00:29:15I noticed
00:29:16that the tattoo
00:29:16on his chest
00:29:17apparently says
00:29:18innocent.
00:29:23He found that
00:29:24amusing.
00:29:26What's remarkable
00:29:27are the lengths
00:29:29of the sentences?
00:29:31He was condemned
00:29:32to 772 years
00:29:34of prison.
00:29:35So these are
00:29:36consecutive sentences?
00:29:37Consecutive sentences.
00:29:38They're not concurrent?
00:29:38No.
00:29:39One finishes,
00:29:40the next one kicks in
00:29:41until he dies?
00:29:42Yes.
00:29:42So he'll die here?
00:29:45El Salvador abolished
00:29:47the death penalty
00:29:48in 1983.
00:29:49So these men
00:29:50will now die here
00:29:52in Seacott.
00:29:53And I can't help
00:29:54wondering
00:29:54if they feel
00:29:55any remorse.
00:29:59Mr. Director,
00:30:00Senator Director,
00:30:01I'm exchanging looks
00:30:03with these men.
00:30:04They're looking at me
00:30:05and I'm looking at them.
00:30:06Am I allowed
00:30:08to speak to them?
00:30:10No.
00:30:11At all.
00:30:11No.
00:30:13They don't want me
00:30:14to have any interaction
00:30:15with the inmates.
00:30:18Some of their crimes
00:30:19are so extreme
00:30:20it would be difficult
00:30:22to know what to say.
00:30:23They filmed themselves
00:30:24committing this
00:30:25horrific series
00:30:27of murders?
00:30:27Yes.
00:30:29I'm about to see
00:30:30exactly what
00:30:32they're capable of.
00:30:34Holy cow.
00:30:36Holy cow.
00:30:37You don't want
00:30:37to see this.
00:30:55I'm inside
00:30:57Seacott.
00:30:59A maximum
00:31:00security prison
00:31:01with a reputation
00:31:03for being the toughest
00:31:04and most dangerous
00:31:05in the world.
00:31:07Home to El Salvador's
00:31:09criminal elite.
00:31:22So they took a bus.
00:31:24Took a bus.
00:31:24To the regular bus.
00:31:25Filled it with gasoline.
00:31:27Set fire to it.
00:31:28And people wanted
00:31:29to leave.
00:31:30They were shooting them.
00:31:30They shot them
00:31:31as they tried to escape.
00:31:32They were kids.
00:31:33Pregnant women.
00:31:34Okay.
00:31:37SĂĄquenlo de acĂĄ.
00:31:42While still not being
00:31:43allowed to interact
00:31:44with any prisoners
00:31:45it's sickening
00:31:46to hear their crimes.
00:31:51This man was part
00:31:53of a gang
00:31:53who attacked
00:31:54a group of workers
00:31:55fixing cables
00:31:56purely because
00:31:57they were in
00:31:58the wrong territory.
00:32:00They tie them
00:32:01and they throw them
00:32:01to a hole
00:32:02and then they start
00:32:03chopping them
00:32:03with a machete.
00:32:04Bibles.
00:32:05Alive.
00:32:06They chopped them
00:32:07to death alive.
00:32:08Chopped them to death
00:32:09with a machete.
00:32:10They filmed themselves
00:32:11committing this
00:32:12horrific series
00:32:13of murders.
00:32:14Yes.
00:32:15And they released
00:32:15it to social media.
00:32:16But they posted it
00:32:17online.
00:32:18Holy cow.
00:32:20Holy cow.
00:32:21You don't want
00:32:22to see this.
00:32:25Jesus Christ.
00:32:27These are the types
00:32:28of people that are here.
00:32:29This was their reality.
00:32:30This was our reality.
00:32:31It was so normalized
00:32:33the violence
00:32:33that we had here.
00:32:34And these examples
00:32:37of the men in here
00:32:39are the reason
00:32:40why Senor Director
00:32:41sleeps easy
00:32:43in his bed at night.
00:32:44Algo muy bueno.
00:32:45Pero que sĂ.
00:32:50I wasn't expecting
00:32:51to see the video
00:32:53that was posted
00:32:54of the machete murders.
00:32:56It was the most graphic
00:32:57thing I've ever seen
00:32:58in my life.
00:32:59But I think
00:33:00it was important
00:33:01that I did
00:33:02because there is
00:33:03no question
00:33:04that these guys
00:33:04are dangerous
00:33:07and ruthless
00:33:09and control
00:33:10this country
00:33:11with the most
00:33:12murderous grip
00:33:13possibly
00:33:14in modern history.
00:33:17For such
00:33:18ruthless
00:33:19sadistic
00:33:20killers
00:33:21it's remarkable
00:33:22how quiet
00:33:23and reserved
00:33:24they seem
00:33:24and it makes me wonder
00:33:26what punishments
00:33:27there are
00:33:28for those
00:33:28who do
00:33:29step out of line.
00:33:33Any inmate
00:33:34that causes trouble
00:33:35is sent here.
00:33:38A tiny
00:33:39pitch black
00:33:40concrete hole
00:33:42Hold it quite firmly
00:33:43so it's like that.
00:33:45Within the depths
00:33:46of the prison
00:33:48the isolation cell
00:33:51And there she goes.
00:33:58Holy God.
00:34:03Sorry I'm just
00:34:04feeling my way
00:34:05to sit down.
00:34:06Here we go.
00:34:08Difficult
00:34:10gangster
00:34:10prisoners here
00:34:11can be
00:34:12banged up here
00:34:13for 30
00:34:14days
00:34:15a month.
00:34:20It's totally silent.
00:34:23There is no
00:34:24light coming down
00:34:25from the roof.
00:34:29I've got the
00:34:30light vision camera
00:34:30to give me
00:34:31some sense
00:34:32of where I am.
00:34:33But basically
00:34:34you'd have to
00:34:35grope your way
00:34:36to the stone
00:34:39sink here
00:34:41and you'd have
00:34:42to grope your way
00:34:42to the
00:34:44toilet
00:34:45and somehow
00:34:46find the bowl
00:34:48that you need
00:34:49to flush it.
00:34:52but I guess the
00:34:53really tough
00:34:57almost unimaginable
00:34:58thing is
00:35:00that
00:35:01you could be here
00:35:03for a month.
00:35:05Just you.
00:35:08And that's it.
00:35:20The doors open.
00:35:22I can't see anybody
00:35:23coming out of here
00:35:24with a fighting spirit.
00:35:26It's funny,
00:35:27this is the one place
00:35:29this is the one place
00:35:30in this jail
00:35:30that does have an odor.
00:35:32There's a certain odor
00:35:33here.
00:35:33I can't really
00:35:34describe it.
00:35:38Fear.
00:35:40That would seem
00:35:41like freedom
00:35:42outside.
00:35:44Boy, you would do
00:35:45exactly what you were told.
00:35:54Director Garcia
00:35:55claims that it's rare
00:35:56that inmates
00:35:57are sent
00:35:58to solitary confinement.
00:36:00Yet across the prison
00:36:01there are 96
00:36:02isolation cells.
00:36:05Are they
00:36:06no more
00:36:07than a deterrent?
00:36:08Or are they used
00:36:09more than the director
00:36:10is letting on?
00:36:16Regardless,
00:36:17day-to-day life
00:36:18inside Seacott
00:36:19is bleak.
00:36:27The prisoners
00:36:29are granted
00:36:29a tiny slice
00:36:30of freedom
00:36:31in the form
00:36:32of a daily exercise
00:36:33class
00:36:33and religious worship.
00:36:35They get
00:36:3630 minutes a day
00:36:37to do this
00:36:38and it's the only time
00:36:39that when they're
00:36:41out of their cells
00:36:41they're not shackled
00:36:42because obviously
00:36:43they couldn't exercise
00:36:44if they were.
00:36:52Once they've done
00:36:53the calisthenics
00:36:55exercise for the body
00:36:56they get exercise
00:36:58for their morality
00:37:00and they're given
00:37:02preachings
00:37:03and teachings
00:37:03from the Bible.
00:37:05Which text
00:37:06from the Bible
00:37:07is he talking
00:37:08about here?
00:37:09What is the theme
00:37:10that he has right now?
00:37:16Do you think
00:37:17this makes
00:37:18any difference
00:37:18to them?
00:37:26It's the strangest
00:37:27Bible class
00:37:27I've ever seen.
00:37:3523 and a half hours
00:37:37every day
00:37:38are spent
00:37:39behind bars
00:37:40with so little
00:37:41to do
00:37:42meal times
00:37:43become a small mercy.
00:37:49So they never eat
00:37:50outside the cell
00:37:51they only ever
00:37:52have their meals
00:37:53in the cell.
00:37:54What's the food?
00:37:55What's dinner tonight?
00:37:56Frijol, beans
00:37:57and arroz
00:37:58and rice
00:37:59And that's the same
00:38:00every night?
00:38:01Yes, that's all the day.
00:38:02Every night?
00:38:07That's what you'd call
00:38:12a balanced diet.
00:38:14The boxes of food
00:38:15are all lined up
00:38:16outside each cell.
00:38:19Nobody eats
00:38:20until the command
00:38:21is given.
00:38:35Yes, yes.
00:38:41You can do it.
00:38:42with the...
00:38:42Oh, you do get in
00:38:43with your pachatea.
00:38:43Okay.
00:38:44Okay.
00:38:46Well, I'm not gonna lie
00:38:49the beans are quite tasty.
00:38:51Yes, they're good.
00:38:52But this isn't
00:38:53what you'd call
00:38:54a nutritious meal,
00:38:55is it?
00:38:56I mean,
00:38:56there's no green vegetables.
00:38:58You have protein
00:38:59and you have the rice
00:39:00but yes.
00:39:01So doesn't that
00:39:02give the man
00:39:04vitamin deficiencies?
00:39:05At this point, no.
00:39:11The director tells me
00:39:12that the prisoners
00:39:13get around
00:39:141,800 calories a day.
00:39:16This may, however,
00:39:17change in the future.
00:39:19So there's been a critique
00:39:20about the food
00:39:22that they're given.
00:39:23And the answer
00:39:23of the president
00:39:24was that when chicken
00:39:26and with beef
00:39:27is available
00:39:28to the rest of the country,
00:39:30maybe then
00:39:30it's gonna be possible
00:39:31to give it to them.
00:39:32That's the answer
00:39:33of the president.
00:39:34I see.
00:39:35So when the rest
00:39:36of the country
00:39:36has recovered enough
00:39:38stability and security
00:39:39and wealth
00:39:41to eat properly,
00:39:43that's when the prisoners
00:39:44will get better food
00:39:45than this.
00:39:46La prioridad es la gente
00:39:47honrada,
00:39:48la gente trabajadora.
00:39:49The people's justice.
00:39:51The people's justice.
00:39:55It's perfectly edible.
00:39:57There's nothing wrong
00:39:58with this.
00:39:59But if I knew
00:40:00that I was only ever
00:40:01going to eat this
00:40:03for breakfast
00:40:03and for dinner
00:40:04for the rest
00:40:05of my life,
00:40:06this is what you get
00:40:09for being a member,
00:40:10an active member
00:40:12of a homicidal gang,
00:40:15a psychopathic gang,
00:40:16and they were.
00:40:17I mean,
00:40:18let's not pretend
00:40:19that we're surrounded
00:40:21by decent,
00:40:21innocent men here.
00:40:22We're not.
00:40:23We're surrounded
00:40:24by some of the most
00:40:26dangerous men
00:40:27on the continent here.
00:40:28And we can't
00:40:30just shrug that off.
00:40:32This is punishment
00:40:33on a plate.
00:40:36Human rights groups
00:40:38report that prisoners
00:40:39inside Seacott
00:40:40have been subjected
00:40:41to inhumane conditions,
00:40:43citing the food
00:40:44as inadequate.
00:40:47But the most damning
00:40:49allegations came
00:40:50after another world leader
00:40:51decided to use Seacott.
00:40:54President Trump
00:40:56flights your prison.
00:41:03Donald Trump
00:41:04and the president
00:41:05of El Salvador,
00:41:06Nayib Bukele,
00:41:07met at the White House
00:41:08in 2025.
00:41:11Their conversation
00:41:12about the success
00:41:13of Seacott
00:41:14was posted
00:41:15on Bukele's
00:41:16social media.
00:41:17Mr. President,
00:41:18it's an honour
00:41:18to have you.
00:41:19Do you want to
00:41:19stop crime
00:41:20and set away?
00:41:22Sometimes they say
00:41:23that we're
00:41:23in prison thousands.
00:41:25I like to say
00:41:25that we actually
00:41:26liberated millions.
00:41:28Can't have
00:41:28one hell of a president.
00:41:39Just a few weeks
00:41:40before,
00:41:40over 200
00:41:42Venezuelan men
00:41:43living in the USA
00:41:43were deported
00:41:45by President Trump
00:41:46to Seacott
00:41:47with the El Salvadorian
00:41:48government
00:41:49receiving a reported
00:41:50$4.7 million
00:41:52in return.
00:41:56The mass deportation
00:41:58was well publicised,
00:41:59broadcast all over the world.
00:42:02In the dead of night,
00:42:03a US military plane
00:42:04arrives in El Salvador.
00:42:06Ten men
00:42:07are taken away
00:42:07in shackles
00:42:08in footage filmed
00:42:09by the Salvadoran
00:42:10government.
00:42:11The Trump administration
00:42:12alleges these are gang members,
00:42:14the latest of hundreds
00:42:15deported from the
00:42:16U.S.
00:42:18Four months later,
00:42:20after negotiations
00:42:21between the governments
00:42:22of Venezuela,
00:42:23El Salvador,
00:42:24and the U.S.,
00:42:25the Venezuelan prisoners
00:42:26were released.
00:42:29But they now hold
00:42:30an extremely rare record.
00:42:32They're the only people
00:42:34who will ever be
00:42:35set free
00:42:35from Seacott.
00:42:40Their experiences
00:42:41were reported
00:42:42to human rights groups
00:42:43and the world's press.
00:42:47The Venezuelans
00:42:48claimed physical assaults,
00:42:50torture,
00:42:51and sexual violence
00:42:52within the prison.
00:42:55They described
00:42:56being forced
00:42:57to sit on their knees
00:42:58for 24 hours.
00:43:00Some claim
00:43:01they were struck
00:43:01so savagely
00:43:02and repeatedly
00:43:03that they struggled
00:43:04to walk.
00:43:07Allegedly,
00:43:08Director Garcia
00:43:09told them all
00:43:09as they walked
00:43:10into Seacott,
00:43:11you have arrived
00:43:13in hell.
00:43:15The El Salvadorian
00:43:17government
00:43:17denies allegations
00:43:18of torture.
00:43:19It maintains
00:43:20that the facility
00:43:21adheres to strict
00:43:22security protocols.
00:43:26President Bukele
00:43:27of El Salvador,
00:43:28he has been
00:43:28so incredible.
00:43:30He has been
00:43:30such a great ally
00:43:31of this country.
00:43:33Thank you very much.
00:43:35Such a great ally.
00:43:40Despite these allegations,
00:43:42I have been told
00:43:42repeatedly
00:43:43that incidents
00:43:44inside the facility
00:43:45are rare.
00:43:53suddenly I'm
00:43:54rushed away
00:43:57into a holding cell
00:43:59flanked by armed guards.
00:44:03Finally,
00:44:04I think I've been
00:44:05given permission
00:44:06to speak
00:44:07with a single prisoner.
00:44:10A ruthless gang member
00:44:12and mass murderer
00:44:13formerly known
00:44:14on the streets
00:44:14as Psycho.
00:44:17I should say
00:44:18this is the one prisoner
00:44:19I'm being allowed
00:44:19to talk to.
00:44:20He's a notorious gang member.
00:44:24So I can't be there.
00:44:27Boom, boom, boom.
00:44:31Before you came in here,
00:44:32you were king of the world.
00:44:34You could do anything.
00:44:36You could have anyone killed
00:44:38with a snap of your fingers.
00:44:40What's it like for you
00:44:41to be in here?
00:44:55Seacott is one of the most
00:44:56secure prisons
00:44:57in the world.
00:45:0319 watchtowers
00:45:04surround the 56-acre site,
00:45:07blocked from the outside world
00:45:09by 9-metre-high walls,
00:45:12topped with 15,000 volts
00:45:14of three-metre-electrified
00:45:17barbed fence.
00:45:20The very idea of escape
00:45:23is futile.
00:45:26Let's go.
00:45:28We have to go.
00:45:30I'll follow you down.
00:45:32After asking many times,
00:45:34I've finally been given permission
00:45:36to speak to a prisoner
00:45:38known as Psycho.
00:45:41Although it appeared
00:45:43that I would talk to him
00:45:44without bars between us,
00:45:45he has suddenly moved
00:45:47at the last minute
00:45:47to a holding cell
00:45:49for the interview.
00:45:55I've been told
00:45:56that I have just five minutes.
00:45:59You speak English?
00:46:01Yeah, but you've got to tell me
00:46:03if I can...
00:46:07So, the interview
00:46:08is going to be in Spanish.
00:46:09I'm going to translate.
00:46:11I'm told he speaks good English.
00:46:13No, no, but I can't.
00:46:15He can't be in English.
00:46:19The prisoner is told
00:46:20that he must speak to me
00:46:21in Spanish.
00:46:24I suspect this is so
00:46:26the prison director
00:46:27and the growing crowd
00:46:28around us
00:46:29can understand
00:46:30every single word.
00:46:33What did you do?
00:46:41You killed 30 people?
00:46:43Yeah.
00:46:46Before you came in here,
00:46:49you were king of the world.
00:46:51You could do anything.
00:46:53You could have anyone killed
00:46:55with the snap of your fingers.
00:46:58What's it like for you
00:46:59to be in here?
00:47:19When you were killing
00:47:21all those people,
00:47:23did you even think
00:47:24for a moment
00:47:26that what you were doing
00:47:27was wrong?
00:47:37You're going to be here
00:47:38for the rest of your life.
00:47:40You'll never come out
00:47:41of this place.
00:47:43That's because
00:47:44they've decided
00:47:45that you're beyond redemption.
00:47:48You can never change.
00:47:49Do you think
00:47:50you could change?
00:48:14You have nothing to do
00:48:15in your cells
00:48:17ever.
00:48:18What do you talk about?
00:48:47What do you miss most
00:48:48about your old life?
00:49:16We're out of time.
00:49:18Thank you for your time.
00:49:20My interview is brought to an abrupt end, and were promptly whisked out of the holding
00:49:28cell.
00:49:30There's an old cliché, isn't there?
00:49:33Dead man walking.
00:49:36That's how he came across to me, dead man walking.
00:49:45Being inside Seacott is fascinating.
00:49:51I'm full of conflicting thoughts.
00:49:54But what I'm not quite able to get my head around is just how calm it appears.
00:50:01Rival gang members coexisting.
00:50:04And my interview with a mass murderer felt collected and composed.
00:50:10It's like no other prison I've ever seen.
00:50:13Have the criminals accepted their fate?
00:50:16Or are they too terrified to break any of the unrelenting rules?
00:50:24They were wild animals, in a sense, running amok.
00:50:28And look at them now.
00:50:30They've been brought to heel.
00:50:33It's a heck of a price, isn't it?
00:50:38If trouble was to break out, the response would be crushing.
00:50:42Security planning is, understandably, paramount.
00:50:49This is the armory.
00:51:01What kind of weapons are these?
00:51:04These are T-65 missiles.
00:51:08Each carrier has 30 weapons.
00:51:12This lethal action weapon is used in the main perimeter and the external part.
00:51:19Assault rifles outside.
00:51:23Inside, they have something else.
00:51:26If we use this, which is a caliber 12,
00:51:31we can use it with two types of ammunition.
00:51:35The desperdigon, which is a lethal gun,
00:51:40and the gun gun.
00:52:01And what would being hit by the rubber do to somebody?
00:52:06Moretones, hematomas.
00:52:08Or bruises, hematomas, bruises.
00:52:27Do they ever attack each other?
00:52:36Do they ever attack each other?
00:52:38No aggression in three years, Sigat.
00:52:42That must be the only prison on the planet
00:52:44that hasn't had a fight in a cell.
00:52:48They never, ever fight.
00:52:50They never fight.
00:52:51And they never fight.
00:52:52Not even a scratch.
00:52:57It's difficult to imagine a prison where inmates haven't clashed.
00:53:02Perhaps all the heavy artillery.
00:53:05The chains.
00:53:08The riot gear.
00:53:10Why would you need to stab proof vests
00:53:11if they never have anything that they can stab you with?
00:53:15Every eventuality covered, right?
00:53:18Maybe it has beaten these violent and dangerous prisoners into submission.
00:53:23Baton.
00:53:24Yeah.
00:53:25Okay, baton.
00:53:26Either way, it's clear that nobody inside Seacott
00:53:29is ever given an inch of leeway.
00:53:32Contamos con el equipo suficiente para lo peor.
00:53:36Yeah, prepare for everything.
00:53:37Prepare for the worst.
00:53:39And hope for the best.
00:53:40Hope for the best.
00:53:41Esperar lo mejor.
00:53:42Siempre.
00:53:56Seacott, a mega-prison in El Salvador
00:53:59with a reputation for being the harshest in the world.
00:54:03It's fascinated and shocked me in equal measure.
00:54:09I've witnessed what life is like here.
00:54:12Behind bars.
00:54:14You could be here for a month.
00:54:18Just you.
00:54:20Almost unimaginable.
00:54:23And come face-to-face with Seacott's most violent
00:54:27and dangerous criminals.
00:54:29Chopped them to death alive.
00:54:32Chopped them to death with a machete.
00:54:34Holy cow.
00:54:36Holy cow.
00:54:37You don't want to see this.
00:54:37Maybe we'll cry because we'll regret them.
00:54:40But in truth, you know that in the life we live,
00:54:43there's no change.
00:54:46Brutal.
00:54:47Bleak.
00:54:48Barren.
00:54:49It's unsettled me to the core.
00:54:59As my time inside Seacott draws to an end,
00:55:06the crew and I are swiftly escorted from the complex.
00:55:17I've never experienced something like that as a journalist
00:55:20or simply as a human being.
00:55:23I've never seen other human beings like that and being held in conditions like that.
00:55:31And the whole thing, I must be honest, has left me quite shaken.
00:55:36It certainly casts a sharp light on the controversy about that prison.
00:55:45A very sharp light.
00:55:50I'm torn.
00:55:52Seacott is an extreme experiment in justice, which for now appears to be working in El Salvador.
00:56:00Is this a model that other countries around the world will be looking to emulate?
00:56:05I have a lot I still need to consider.
00:56:14I've come to the former Gangron neighbourhood of Apopa, just north of San Salvador.
00:56:22With so many people now in Seacott, has criminal control of areas like this been totally dismantled?
00:56:29Or are there still gang members at large?
00:56:35I'm here to go on a military patrol with the Minister of Defence, Rene Marino Monroy.
00:56:41OK, we will go this way.
00:56:43OK, shall we go?
00:56:45I certainly wasn't expecting these many soldiers.
00:56:50I mean, you're all tooled up.
00:56:51You've got a carbine in one hand, you've got a pistol in a holster.
00:56:54That's not just for show.
00:56:56No.
00:56:57It was his troops that flooded these streets when the crackdown began.
00:57:02We are here patrolling and we find one guy, one bad guy.
00:57:08We check the guy and if we know that this guy is a gang member, we call the police.
00:57:17And hand him over?
00:57:18So you, the military, would go in and do the hard arrest?
00:57:21Yeah.
00:57:22The hard arrest with heavy guys, fully tooled up, as you say.
00:57:26And then the police would come, take them away and then end up in the centre.
00:57:31It's an impressive show of force with dozens of soldiers all around us.
00:57:37It's clear, lots of people feel reassured by their presence.
00:57:43And we're happy now, are we happy?
00:57:44Happy now, are we happy?
00:57:46Happy.
00:57:46Happy.
00:57:46As ever.
00:57:51Thumbs up.
00:57:53You seem to be very popular.
00:57:55Yeah.
00:57:55I noticed a lot of people are waving at you.
00:57:57The ordinary people here.
00:57:59I can see them smiling at you.
00:58:01They all seem very grateful.
00:58:02Yeah, yeah.
00:58:03It's like walking down the street with a movie star.
00:58:11I can't help but wonder if there really are gang members hiding amongst such a grateful public.
00:58:18Now that the gangs have been smashed, why are we still now on patrol?
00:58:23Why do you still need to make patrols like this?
00:58:25Because there are some guys who are freer, because they were able to escape.
00:58:29You haven't got them all?
00:58:30Yeah.
00:58:31Right now, it's more difficult to capture those guys, because some of them, they don't
00:58:37have tattoos, for example.
00:58:39Oh, really?
00:58:40See?
00:58:41They look like normal people.
00:58:43Do you ever think, because they don't have tattoos, and they do look so normal, do you
00:58:47ever think sometimes you might be arresting the wrong guys, that they're innocent?
00:58:51And if we have doubt, we call the police, and we present the guy to the police, and the
00:58:56police decide.
00:58:58Got it.
00:58:58So, if we make a mistake, for example, the police correct that.
00:59:05It's obvious to me that many residents feel more secure than they have for years.
00:59:11But the question remains, were the scale and methods of the arrests a price worth paying?
00:59:38The message from El Salvador, with its creation of Seacott Prison, is very clear.
00:59:53Erase all links to the country's former gang violence and corruption.
01:00:01In 2022, the same year construction began on Seacott, the El Salvadorian government ordered
01:00:08the destruction of almost 80 tombstones belonging to gang members.
01:00:14The men destroying the graves were criminals from some of El Salvador's other prisons.
01:00:21So you can see where it's all been smashed, can't you hear?
01:00:35I've been given a small window to meet and interview President Bukele's right-hand man.
01:00:51You've won the battle.
01:01:05You've won the battle.
01:01:10And it is also a way to understand what's going on in El Salvador.
01:01:15Why does it have to be so harsh?
01:01:17I mean, I went there and I have to say I was shocked.
01:01:21I was shocked.
01:01:22It was very extreme.
01:01:23Do you think you could have won that war?
01:01:26And do you think you could have kept the victory without Seacott?
01:01:31Seacott?
01:01:31I mean, I don't know why we are so focused on Seacott.
01:01:34Seacott is just...
01:01:35Because it's an extraordinary place as well.
01:01:37No, absolutely.
01:01:38But that's for you and for people abroad.
01:01:41People are taking the Seacott as an anchor to understand El Salvador.
01:01:46This is a mistakenly, mistakenly approach.
01:01:49Seacott, Seacott, Seacott.
01:01:51I mean, it will be a very narrow, very, very narrow vision of what is going on in El Salvador.
01:02:00My opinion is how many lives have been saved.
01:02:06You know what we are winning now?
01:02:08To become a normal society.
01:02:12That's it.
01:02:13Just to be normal.
01:02:14Just to have the right to walk on the sidewalks.
01:02:17Just to have the right to go and enjoy with the kids in the park, in the public places.
01:02:23That wasn't...
01:02:24That was impossible.
01:02:26El Salvador is the safest country in the Western Hemisphere.
01:02:30And this is, you know, the paradox.
01:02:34Everyone...
01:02:34They are violating human rights.
01:02:37The human rights of whom?
01:02:39Why are they not happy that in our country, they don't have the blood that was running out?
01:02:47Why?
01:02:49Why do we, you know, are we okay and our children?
01:02:52For you, that you are happy that we are respecting your false democracy?
01:02:56What do you know if you themselves own own countries?
01:03:07President Bukele isn't just eradicating El Salvador's past.
01:03:12He says he's building a safe and successful future.
01:03:18Most schools in the country were run by the gangs,
01:03:22used as a way to control the neighborhoods and recruit new young members.
01:03:31Bukele?
01:03:32Yes, there is my president.
01:03:34I know.
01:03:36Now the education system in areas once dominated by the violent gangs has been transformed.
01:03:43Reyna VelĂĄzquez was the head of this primary school during the brutal years.
01:03:49It was a very difficult time because they were in the school.
01:03:55We had to deal with them.
01:03:59We had to deal with them.
01:04:01We had to deal with them.
01:04:02We had to deal with them to allow the school year to continue.
01:04:07Let's say a parent would call, may I complain, they would have to call the police.
01:04:12And they would sit the police, the gang members and the school.
01:04:16So imagine a PTA meeting with police.
01:04:20And it sounds almost unbelievable that the school and the parents and the police were having to negotiate with the
01:04:28gangsters.
01:04:29Oh, yes.
01:04:30Now we are free.
01:04:33That's the word.
01:04:34We are free.
01:04:36We are free.
01:04:42I know.
01:04:43I know.
01:04:45Go, Brandon.
01:04:46Go, Brandon.
01:04:47Go, Brandon.
01:04:55In just a few years, El Salvador has broken its cycle of violence.
01:05:02The destruction of the criminal chokehold on the country has transformed it out of a living hell.
01:05:12This fragile peace is all underpinned by the presence of Seacott.
01:05:18A drastic and severe deterrent, but perhaps the only solution.
01:05:26Look, it's obvious that Seacott breaches human rights as we currently understand.
01:05:32It's a shocking, extreme corner of humanity.
01:05:37But El Salvadorians were writhing under the thumb of psychotic, psychopathic sadists.
01:05:46I wonder if sacrificing civil liberties for the common good is something others would ever be prepared to embrace.
01:05:56The stories I've heard from ordinary El Salvadorians, well, frankly, they froze my blood.
01:06:04And I'm sorry, but I just don't think it's our place to lecture El Salvador
01:06:10about precisely the way that they somehow managed to claw their way back to sanity.
01:06:17To me, it seems undeniable that Seacott rescued them from much of that bloodshed.
01:06:24And it's also arguable, if uncomfortable, that it now must continue to protect them.
01:06:30rekare in the background.005.
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