The “war” against gangs launched a year ago by the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, is the subject of a new video game in which the participant can put himself in the shoes of the controversial leader and join the fight against criminal organizations.
“Become a part of history, the war against the evil gangs has begun!”says the video game “Territorial Control Plan: Extraction”, which is free to install on mobile phones and was developed by Restless Games Studio.
Participants can put themselves “in the shoes of an experienced specialist soldier, an elite police element” and even the “Commander General of the Armed Forces (Bukele) himself”.
The game, which had “over 10,000 downloads” in the first weekis in Beta version, or test, according to what was reported in one of the official television news in El Salvador.
On the screen, an avatar looks like the president with a backwards peaked cap and with a firearm with which he faces other characters who are part of gangs.
The game is based on the “war” against gangs, which in an emergency regime led to massive raids and imprisonment of 67,000 suspected gang members. However, the Catholic Church, the UN and human rights groups have criticized Bukele’s methods.
The app takes the name of the “Territorial Control Plan” which Bukele launched when he assumed power in June 2019 and which includes measures to prevent violence with actions in the fields of education, culture, sports, among others.
At the beginning of the video game, animations of Bukele can be seen, accompanied by soldiers and military, with assault weapons, and in its development he is dealing with blows and blows.
“The truth is, the game doesn’t seem very appropriate to me. What it’s about now is overcoming violence, not encouraging it, and the video game in my view encourages it,” he told the agency. AFP extension Néstor Molina, player and employee of a network maintenance company.
Meanwhile, Ricardo Acevedo, another video game fan, told al AFP extension that although it is a trial version, the game “has potential” because it is “fun”. Neither Bukele nor any member of the Salvadoran government has commented on the video game.
The “regime of exceptions” has been extended
This week the Congress of El Salvador has extended the exception regime for another 30 days which has been in force for just over a year in the country
“The emergency regime is extended to the whole national territory”, establishes the decree approved by the 67 deputies of the unicameral Congress dominated by the allies of the president.
The thirteenth extension of the emergency regime will be in effect between April 17 and May 16, according to the news agency. AFP extension.
The regime of exception, which allows arrests without warrants, has succeeded in reducing crime and homicide rates, but at the cost of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and even torture and murder inside prisons, as denounced by humanitarian organizations.
On April 6, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asked “the State of El Salvador to restore the full validity of the rights and guarantees suspended” by the emergency regime, established after a murderous escalation that caused 87 deaths. on a weekend.
“IACHR urges the state to respect human rights in taking measures to prevent, control and respond to crime,” IACHR said in a statement.
Other organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) have suggested in recent months that the Salvadoran government “remove” the exception regime and replace it with a “sustainable strategy that respects human rights”, but the answer has always been a “no”. on the part of President Bukele.
Yesterday, before the extension of the exceptional regime was approved by the deputies, the Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro, assured that under the exceptional regime “more than 67,000” people were arrested, suspected gang members.
Among other things, Villatoro criticized the international humanitarian organizations that have asked the government to put an end to the emergency regime.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.