• President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador recently launched an immense police operation in the city of Soyapango.
• The city of Soyapango is home to several slums, with 300,000 inhabitants, and has been the site of increased gang violence in recent months.
• Rikki, a co-host of the Bitcoin Explorers podcast, was able to visit two of the neighborhoods in Soyapango with the help of a local guide.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele recently launched a large police operation in the city of Soyapango. This satellite city of San Salvador is home to 300,000 inhabitants and several slums, known locally as “comunidades.” Recent months have seen an increase in gang violence in the area, leading to Bukele’s operation.

Rikki, co-host of the Bitcoin Explorers podcast, was able to visit two of these neighborhoods – the extremely poor Ciudad de Dios and the violent Santa Lucia. Rikki’s visit was carefully planned in advance, and he was accompanied by a local driver, a person known in the neighborhood who rode ahead of them on a motorcycle, and a guide who had lived in the area for five years and had a history of drug addiction.

Rikki’s visit highlighted the difficult realities of life in Soyapango. He saw extreme poverty, with most homes lacking basic amenities such as running water and electricity. He also saw the presence of “pandilleros,” or gangsters, who have been hit hard by the government crackdown in recent months.

Rikki’s visit to Soyapango came just two days before President Bukele’s announcement of the police operation. 8,500 military and 1,500 police officers surrounded the city, searching from house to house for gang members still hiding in the area. More than 150 arrests were counted.

Rikki’s visit to Soyapango was a sobering experience, highlighting the dire circumstances faced by the inhabitants of the city. President Bukele’s police operation is a crucial step in the fight against gang violence, though the long-term prospects for Soyapango’s citizens remain uncertain.