Families march for improved prison conditions in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Some 300 people have marched to El Salvador’s presidential residence demanding improved prison conditions for gang members, including better medical care and family visits.

The march by mostly mothers and other relatives comes amid a crackdown on the country’s powerful gangs in which the government has transferred many prisoners to more secure facilities and reduced their liberties.

After suspected gang members massacred 11 people at a power-line work site in a rural area in March, the government declared a state of emergency in seven prisons and imposed what it called extraordinary measures to crack down on gangs. It isolated gang leaders trying to cut off their communication with members on the streets

During Wednesday’s demonstration, supporters also held signs calling for the restoration of conjugal visits for the gang inmates.