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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Luke Taylor in Bogotá

‘They found hell’: innocent foreigners caught in El Salvador’s mass arrests

Nayib Bukele El Salvador Colombia Prison
EL SALVADOR-PRISON-GANGS-INMATES.
A ‘terrorist confinement centre’ in Tecoluca in El Salvador. Human rights groups say thousands of innocent people are being caught up in the offensive. Photograph: Salvadorean Presidency/AFP/Getty Images

José Antonio Potes and his childhood friend Manuel Castrillón travelled to El Salvador hoping to find the safe, prosperous, tech-friendly paradise that they had heard about in Colombian media.

President Nayib Bukele’s draconian crackdown on gangs and ambitious plans to convert the country into a bitcoin-powered regional powerhouse have made him the most popular leader in Latin America – and El Salvador a destination for surfers and tech-bros alike.

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