LIMA (Reuters) -Peru is weighing sending what it considers highly dangerous foreign inmates to prisons in El Salvador, the prime minister said on Thursday, potentially following in the footsteps of the U.S.’ deportations of migrants to the Central American nation.
Peruvian Prime Minister Eduardo Arana did not immediately detail what such an agreement with El Salvador would look like, but the U.S. has paid El Salvador to imprison Venezuelan migrants it alleges are gang members.
“The government is evaluating bilateral cooperation mechanisms for the transfer of highly dangerous foreign inmates to their countries of origin, including specialized centers such as the CECOT in El Salvador,” Arana told Congress.
He did not clarify whether Peru would only send Salvadoran prisoners to the nation or whether other foreign inmates could be sent as well. The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The CECOT is El Salvador’s notorious maximum-security prison known for its harsh conditions, which have drawn sharp outcry from human rights groups.
Arana added that the Andean nation was seeking development bank financing to build more prisons of its own as it deals with overcrowding and a recent crime wave.
Peru has declared states of emergency in regions across the country in recent months, including in capital Lima, to tackle crime. In May, illegal miners kidnapped and killed 13 mine workers in Peru’s northern district of Pataz.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)
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