Conservative President of Peru Keiko Fujimori on Thursday announced the construction of two new prisons in her country during her official visit to El Salvador.
One of the two prisons, Fujimori detailed, will be “similar” to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison, which she toured as part of her official itinerary in the Central American nation, while the other will be of a lower security level.
President Fujimori is presently conducting a multi-day official visit to El Salvador that will run through Saturday, October 31, seeking to bolster her country’s cooperation with the government of President Nayib Bukele while meeting with Salvadoran authorities and business representatives. The two heads of state met on Thursday evening and signed a joint cooperation agreement on security, health, education, economy, trade, and the fight against organized crime.
Prior to the encounter, President Fujimori visited the CECOT mega-prison accompanied by the prison’s director and Salvadoran officials, seeking to obtain first-hand knowledge of the Bukele administration’s crackdown on violent gangs in the country. Per the Salvadoran newspaper El Mundo, Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro provided Fujimori with a portfolio containing information on El Salvador’s security model during the visit.
Speaking to reporters after the visit, Fujimori emphasized that organized crime groups do not respect borders but are “terrorist organizations” that must be fought “with firmness,” echoing statements issued to the United Nations General Assembly in September. She stressed that Peru not only faces the threat of organized crime, but also the threat of drug trafficking and illegal migrant networks.
“We know that in Peru we need to build prisons. We need to complete the six that are currently under construction. Today’s tour will be a great source of inspiration for us as we seek to replicate these prisons with all these initiatives,” Fujimori said.
Fujimori, in separate remarks to the press after her meeting with Bukele, announced that Peru will construct two additional prisons — 0ne of which, she said, will be similar to the CECOT, while the other will house “less dangerous” inmates.
She described the Salvadoran mega-prison as “impressive” and “emblematic,” praising Bukele for returning to Salvadorans “that which is sacred, peace, security, and the freedom to once again be able to walk through the streets without fear.”
Fujimori described El Salvador as a “beacon of hope for Latin America.”
“Peru has several prisons nearing completion, and we will begin construction on two more. One will be for highly dangerous inmates, where we will build something similar,” Fujimori said, per the official newspaper El Peruano. “Then we will build a prison for less dangerous inmates, but where we will have to implement productive workshops and the ‘Zero Idleness’ plan, another initiative we are also adopting.”
Per Radio Programas del Peru, the conservative President considers it vital that CECOT is capable of blocking telephone communications, preventing the entry of information to criminals. Fujimori stressed that the message this gives to Peru is that prisons “are meant for serving sentences, not to be the center of criminal organizations.”
“We’re taking many of these ideas with us,” she said.
President Bukele reportedly noted that what El Salvador did to curb gang violence and crime cannot be simply replicated by other countries in a direct manner, noting that the situation in Peru is far different from that of the Central American nation and that each country’s gangs and organized crime groups operate differently.
“For various reasons, El Salvador’s system will be effective. There will be a lot to take into account, given the factors that apply to one country or another. However, copying it exactly wouldn’t make sense, since every country has different realities,” Bukele said. “Peru’s problem with insecurity is real, but it’s not comparable to the one El Salvador faced. You don’t need such a strong remedy for a less serious illness.”
“The nature of crime in Peru is different from that in El Salvador. We have never claimed that this is the system for all countries. This is the system for El Salvador,” he continued.
Bukele has issued similar assertions during visits from other Latin American officials over the past years, such as Argentine President Javier Milei’s national security officers.
In addition to discussing bilateral cooperation in security and other areas, Presidents Fujimori and Bukele reportedly discussed plans towards a future Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between both nations. Additionally, Fujimori invited Bukele to visit Peru at a later date — with the conservative President stressing that Bukele will be received in Peru “with our important Peruvian gastronomy.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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