Bryan Avelar

Videos and documents compiled by investigators show the director of prisons seized records of meetings between the MS-13 and Nayib Bukele

“It was as if the earth had swallowed them.”

The notorious and violent MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs control swathes of the Central American nation, despite the efforts of President Nayib Bukele to reduce their hold.

A leaked criminal file reviewed by VICE World News in El Salvador details the modus operandi of Hugo Osorio, in whose house at least 18 bodies were found.

Now, people from across El Salvador have descended on the crime scene in search of their missing loved ones, some of whom went missing years ago.

Homosexuality is an affront to the rules of El Salvador’s violent street gangs, and a documentary filmmaker has shown a side to the gangs never seen before. 

The latest conviction of a former local mayor in El Salvador serves as an example of how local authorities work with, not against, the local street gangs to serve shared interests.

“He has behaved well with the people, and the people have spoken,” said one of Bukele’s voters.

Erick Iván Ortiz's political bid is the first of its kind in conservative El Salvador, but he prefers gay clubs to the street for getting his message out.

“If someone had told me when I was a child that surfing would take me to the other side of the world, I would have told them that they were crazy,” said Bryan Pérez, El Salvador’s greatest surfer.

President Nayib Bukele made comments seemingly suggesting the attack had been staged as part of the FMLN's campaign for upcoming local elections. 

After worrying tweets about military power and extending his term, Nayib Bukele changed his profile picture to a Sacha Baron Cohen character from the film "The Dictator."