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Luisa Vieira

The Graphic Truth: How does El Salvador's prison rate stack up?

El Salvador made headlines in recent days after President Nayib Bukele released photos of gang members being corralled into the country’s new mega-prison – a sprawling complex that will eventually hold 40,000 inmates. It’s the latest development in Bukele’s massive – and very popular – crackdown on gangs, in which Salvadoran authorities have locked up almost 2% of the adult population. (Never mind that US officials have recently accused Bukele of colluding with the very gangs he says he’s trying to stamp out!) El Salvador now has the highest prison rate per 100,000 people in the world – but how does that compare globally? Here we take a look at the countries with the highest official prison rates.

Annie Gugliotta

Then and Now: Iran’s public trials, Somalia’s new cabinet, El Salvador’s state of emergency

Three Months ago: Islamic Republic announces (sham) public trials

Media attention may have subsided, but protesters in Iran remain unbowed four months after the in-custody death of Mahsa Amini – she was arrested by the Islamic Republic’s “morality police” three days before her death – set off something resembling a revolution. Three months ago, we wrote that the mullahs who rule the country with an iron fist had announced the public trial of around 1,000 Iranians for participating in anti-regime demonstrations. Since then, at least four men have been publicly hanged: Sayed Mohammad Hosseini, 39, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, 22, a karate champ, Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, a store worker, and Mohsen Shekari, 23, a barista. They were each accused of killing a member of the Basij paramilitary, a ruthless volunteer force that operates under the draconian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp – though rights groups say their confessions were coerced under torture.

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The Debilitating Cost of Remittances | Economic Empowerment | GZERO Media

The debilitating cost of remittances

Dilip Ratha knows how hard it is to work abroad and send money home. Why? Because he had to go through the same hoops when he was a migrant.

It's the inconvenience and the cost, the World Bank's head of KNOMAD and lead economist says during a livestream conversation on closing the global digital gap hosted by GZERO in partnership with Visa.

Still, Ratha points out, these flows are a lifeline for millions of poor families around the world. And they keep the lights on in remittance-dependent economies like El Salvador or Lebanon.

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A woman holds a black cross with a sign against Bitcon during a protest against President Bukele's government in El Salvador.

Reuters

Hard Numbers: Salvadorans snub crypto, Chinese heart QR codes, Nigerians go cashless, Europeans shop online

2: El Salvador's crypto bro President Nayib Bukele has gone all in on Bitcoin, but his citizens are not yet sold on crypto for remittances, a lifeline for the economy. So far this year, only 2% of the money from Salvadorans working abroad was sent to their families using digital currencies.

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Aadhaar logo seen displayed on a smartphone.

Avishek Das/SOPA Images/Sipa U via Reuters Connect

What We're Watching: Digital money experiences in India, Togo & El Salvador

The advent of digital IDs

In poor countries, many are born without birth certificates or identification, a problem that leaves them unable to participate in modern society because they can’t prove who they are. Those without papers can’t open bank accounts, and governments can’t track transactions conducted entirely in cash, meaning they can’t tax people they can’t find. In turn, this lost revenue makes it harder for countries to provide much-needed public services. Before Aadhaar, a biometric ID system issued in India, more than one billion people in that country, and the government in Delhi, faced this very challenge. The Aadhaar system uses thumbprints and iris scans to establish identities and bring people onto the grid. It provides a unique 12-digit number to every user and allows authorities to transfer funds for state pensions, fuel subsidies, and other government help directly into bank accounts created for people who’ve never had access to such things. In important ways, this system is a triumph in human development, but there is a potential downside: In a country where rule of law isn’t firmly entrenched, if a government can put money directly into your bank account, it can also withdraw it. That power could one day become a tool of coercion that political leaders in countries that use similar ID systems can use to enforce obedience from millions of people. There is also the risk of hacking and identity theft, a problem that can only be managed gradually as problems emerge. These are risks we’ll see in many developing countries in the coming years.

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El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele

GZERO Media

Strongman with a strong mandate? El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele

Since riding an anti-establishment wave to power in 2019, El Salvador’s young, social-media savvy, mano dura (“firm hand”) President Nayib Bukele has tested the limits of his country’s fragile institutions.

He’s sent armed men into congress to pressure lawmakers, harried the opposition with arrests, packed the courts with loyalists, and raised human rights concerns with his jail-first-ask-questions-later approach towards gang violence.

But he’s also done something remarkable: he’s become one of the most popular democratically elected leaders in the world. After three years in office, his approval rating hovers around 90%.

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Supporters of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr inside the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad.

REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Hard Numbers: Iraqi parliament occupied, Chinese manufacturing slows, El Salvador to buy back debt, Spain going tieless

125: At least 125 people were injured over the weekend after supporters of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed parliament for a second time in three days to reject a pro-Iran candidate for PM. The protesters now say they'll camp out there until further notice, raising the stakes for the stalled formation of a new government.

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A protester wears a face mask with a sticker reading "Chase Prayuth" and raising the three-finger salute during a rally against the Thai PM.

Chaiwat Subprasom / SOPA Images/Sipa USA

Hard Numbers: Thais come clean on Pegasus, Salvadoran emergency extended, Tunisian pol questioned, Chinese boycott mortgages

30: Thailand admitted using the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to track phones in cases related to drugs or “national security.” The government reportedly also deployed Pegasus to spy on 30 activists linked to the ongoing youth-led mass protests against coup-leader-turned PM Prayuth Chan-ocha, which triggered a political earthquake by questioning the role of the monarchy.

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