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        {"code":"26078","sect":"El Salvador","sect_slug":"el-salvador","hits":"3778","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202203\/el_salvador\/26078","link_edit":"","name":"Is El Salvador Protecting MS-13 from Extradition?","slug":"is-el-salvador-protecting-ms-13-from-extradition-","info":"The U.S. suspects that a top MS-13 leader known as &amp;quot;Crook&amp;quot; was freed from prison despite an extradition request on transnational narco-terrorism charges. In 2019, he was part of the gang leadership who agreed with Nayib Bukele to a politically influential reduction in homicides. Salvadoran courts have for months refused to extradite senior MS-13 leaders to the U.S., and Washington Republicans are taking note.","mtag":"Newsletter","noun":{"html":"El Faro English","data":{"el-faro-english":{"sort":"","slug":"el-faro-english","path":"el_faro_english","name":"El Faro English","edge":"0","init":"0"}}},"view":"3778","pict":{"cms-image-000037293-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"37293","name":"cms-image-000037293.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037293.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037293.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037293-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;In April 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Helmer Rivera Canales as a leader of MS-13, a gang that three years earlier it classified as transnational criminal organization. Photo: Treasury Department&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EIn April 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Helmer Rivera Canales as a leader of MS-13, a gang that three years earlier it classified as transnational criminal organization. Photo: Treasury Department\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":37293,"date":{"live":"2022\/03\/18"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2022","data_post_dateLive_MM":"03","data_post_dateLive_DD":"18","text":"\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"\/suscribe\/en\/\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESubscribe to our newsletter\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EU.S. diplomats formally asked the Salvadoran Supreme Court this week for information on the whereabouts of MS-13 leader Helmer Canales Rivera, alias \u201cCrook,\u201d after reports that he was \u003Cstrong\u003Equietly freed from prison last November\u003C\/strong\u003E despite a U.S. extradition request in July and a red notice from Interpol. In December, La Prensa Gr\u00e1fica reported his apparent release \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.laprensagrafica.com\/elsalvador\/Cabecilla-MS-13-extraditable-sale-libre-de-maxima-seguridad-20211203-0050.html\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003Eon the basis of prison records\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp id=\"docs-internal-guid-e9274c29-7fff-147c-7323-31ab49400698\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFollowing the diplomatic note from the U.S. Embassy reviewed by El Faro, the Supreme Court asked the trial court in January to confirm that Canales, already in prison for the last two decades, was released \u2014despite murder convictions in 2019 adding 60 years to previous sentences\u2014 on what legal basis, and if he is now in another facility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ECanales, a 45-year-old gang member who \u003Cstrong\u003Ejoined MS-13 in Los Angeles\u003C\/strong\u003E, is part of the Ranfla Nacional, or top leadership of MS-13.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince President Nayib Bukele arrived in office in 2019, \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202108\/el_salvador\/25670\/Criminal-Investigation-Found-the-Bukele-Administration-Hid-Evidence-of-Negotiations-with-Gangs.htm\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003Edocuments show\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E the administration began covertly negotiating with the gang for political support for his party, as well as a homicide reduction central to his politically charged claim that he has curbed violence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter El Faro revealed the talks in September 2020, the Bukele administration tried to hide the evidence. The unit of prosecutors who opened an investigation into the affair was then dismantled after the Bukelista legislative bloc \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/elfaro.net\/el-faro-english-technical-coup-detat-in-elsalvador-6212804\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003Eillegally removed the attorney general\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=2000&ImageHeight=1333&ImageId=37293 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"In April 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Helmer Rivera Canales as a leader of MS-13, a gang that three years earlier it classified as transnational criminal organization. Photo: Treasury Department\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E In April 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Helmer Rivera Canales as a leader of MS-13, a gang that three years earlier it classified as transnational criminal organization. Photo: Treasury Department \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBukele isn\u2019t the first to negotiate with gangs in El Salvador. The first government truce with the gangs MS-13 and 18th Street occurred in 2012, and Canales was also part of those failed talks. When they fell apart, Eastern District of New York prosecutors wrote, the Ranfla blamed its collapse on U.S. sabotage and retaliated by ordering violence in both countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn December 2020 a New York grand jury indicted the entire 13-man Ranfla on \u003Cstrong\u003Etransnational narco-terrorism charges\u003C\/strong\u003E. Prosecutors accused them of trafficking marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and meth with the help of four major Mexican cartels. They also allegedly created paramilitary units in 2016 to hunt police in El Salvador and ordered the murder of an FBI agent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExtradition Chess Match\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ESources in El Salvador\u2019s Supreme Court told El Faro of\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003Etwo \u003Cstrong\u003Emore unresolved extradition requests\u003C\/strong\u003E for members of the Ranfla: Borromeo Enrique Henr\u00edquez (\u201cDiablo de Hollywood\u201d), and Dionisio Ar\u00edstides Umanzor (\u201cEl Sirra\u201d). Henr\u00edquez is widely considered the head of the Ranfla, while Ar\u00edstides and Canales are two of its most influential members.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAnother open extradition request for MS-13 member Armando Melgar D\u00edaz (\u201cBlue\u201d) accuses him of orchestrating the gang\u2019s operations along the U.S. East Coast. Supreme Court president \u00d3scar L\u00f3pez Jerez delayed the court\u2019s processing of the request in August.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELast June, L\u00f3pez Jerez called for revisions to the countries\u2019 extradition treaty, a document the U.S. has wielded in publicly scolding El Salvador for its refusals. The treaty remains intact, but two months later the Supreme Court denied the extradition of \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.elsalvador.com\/noticias\/nacional\/corte-suprema-niega-extradicion-pandillero-manicomio-a-estados-unidos\/872211\/2021\/\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003Ea high-profile non-Ranfla member of the gang\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EEl Salvador\u2019s refusal to comply with the treaty has led to bitter confrontation. When top U.S. diplomat Jean Manes stepped down in November, she cited non-extraditions as a reason for her departure and argued that Bukele had cut off dialogue. The U.S. Treasury then blacklisted Bukele\u2019s chief negotiators with the gangs, \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202112\/centroamerica\/25893\/Treasury-Dept-Salvadoran-Government-Pacted-with-MS-13.htm\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003Eincluding his vice minister of justice\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe \u003Cstrong\u003Enon-extraditions are also causing grumbling in conservative Washington\u003C\/strong\u003E, which has largely avoided publicly singling out Bukele. Influential arch-conservative WSJ columnist Mary Anastasia O\u2019Grady even accused El Salvador\u2019s president of \u201c\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/china-new-friends-in-central-america-bukele-el-salvador-honduras-nicaragua-influence-taiwan-fmln-la-union-tom-shannon-11641759240\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003Eplaying footsie with thugs\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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