Bukele announced that within five years the armed forces will increase from 20,000 to 40,000 soldiers

President Nep Bukele announced this Monday noon the implementation of the fourth phase of the regional control plan, which he called “the incursion”, as a result of gang movements in recent weeks, such as the killing of four students in Ahuachapan.

According to the president, the new phase will start today with the entry of new members of the armed forces, but it will take five years to implement, during which time the number of soldiers is expected to rise from 20 thousand to 40 thousand.

The regional control plan did not achieve the expected results in the region, and the evidence is that the government launched the fourth phase on Monday, even without completing the second and third phases of that security project, and without extracting lands from the gangs.

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Bukele took advantage of the swearing-in of 1,046 new soldiers to launch the new phase of the plan, which, he said, means more military presence in the territory, despite the fact that the armed forces can only support the National Civil Police (PNC) in security functions. general.

The event took place in Plaza Memoria, in the former Zapote barracks.

“This day, in front of these 857 men and 189 women who are graduating from this promotion, in the promotion that has brought more than 20,000 personnel into the armed forces. I want to launch Phase 4, which is called Pioneer,” he said.

The president indicated that the new military will be deployed from Tuesday to provide security for residents in streets, public transportation units, historical centers and others.

The President confirmed that the first phase of the security plan has already been implemented and that he expects to receive the already guaranteed funds during the next few days to complete the implementation of the second and third phases. It was announced on Monday that it will continue within five years.

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The armed forces will have 40,000 personnel, in addition to those that the Palestinian National Council will have. During the speech, he indicated that there was a person providing security for each member of the gang.

On July 7, the legislature approved a $109 million loan for the third phase of the security plan, with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, under the Citizen Security Facility Modernization Program. According to parliamentarians, this will contribute to strengthening the national civilian police and the army.

Various sectors questioned the regional control plan, considering that it did not achieve the expected results.

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