US pressures El Salvador to extradite MS-13 leaders wanted

The State Department has called on the El Salvadorian authorities to “immediately” extradite to the United States the leaders of the international gang, Sal Salvutrucha (MS-13), who are wanted by US justice.

This request opens a new chapter in the increasingly complicated relationship between the government of Democratic President Joe Biden and that of his counterpart Najib Boukele.

Patrick Ventrell, the U.S. embassy in El Salvador, has specifically called for the extradition of Elio Melgar, also known as “Blue,” who has been jailed in his home country since 2018 for allegedly ordering killings and other crimes in the east. US coast.

“The best way for the government of El Salvador to show that it is serious about trying to find a real, lasting and viable solution to reduce gang violence is to extradite the most dangerous leaders,” he said. Ventrell during a press conference.

In January 2021, US prosecutors had prosecuted 14 MS-13 leaders for “terrorism”.

Authorities in El Salvador, which did not respond to a request for comment, did not provide details on where the gang members were being held. For its part, the country’s Supreme Court had assured in 2021 that it would proceed with an “analysis” of extradition requests.

Mr Boukele’s forty-year-old government has repeatedly clashed with Biden’s government, which has imposed sanctions on several officials close to the Salvadoran president.

For her part, El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, Milena Mallorca, uploaded to her account a photo of herself during a meeting with US President Biden. “What we are asking for is a relationship based on respect, on independence, on national sovereignty,” he said, without touching on the extradition request.

SOURCE: AMPE