El Salvador invokes emergency powers after surge in homicides

A view shows members of El Salvador deputies during an extraordinary session of Congress where the Assembly issued the exceptional regime, after the crime wave that left a high number of people murdered in the last two days in the country, in San Salvador, El Salvador, March 27, 2022. REUTERS/Jessica Orellana

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador's Congress approved on Sunday emergency powers that temporarily suspended some constitutional protections after the Central American country recorded a sharp rise in killings attributed to criminal gangs.

Police reported a total of 62 homicides on Saturday in the nation of some 6.5 million people. It was the highest daily toll of homicides so far this century, according to Celia Medrano, a longtime human rights advocate.