El Salvador Proposes Separating Gang Terrorism from Common Criminal Associations

El Salvador’s Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro presented a proposal to the Legislative Assembly’s Political Commission on Thursday to reform the Penal Code, seeking to differentiate between terrorist organizations—meaning gangs—and common criminal associations formed to commit crimes such as robberies.

The proposal creates a new Article 344-A that specifically defines the crime of belonging to local terrorist organizations, establishing different levels of participation: from creators, organizers, and leaders to intermediaries, negotiators, and those who facilitate the permanence of these structures.

According to Villatoro, the current Article 345 on criminal associations—used extensively during the state of exception—would be reserved for criminal groups with no gang ties. These associations are defined as organizations of three or more people, temporary or permanent, with some degree of structure and criminal intent, and would be punished with 10 to 20 years in prison.

Currently, Article 345 carries penalties of 20 to 30 years for gang members and 40 to 45 years for gang leaders.

Our Take

The legal differentiation between gang terrorism and common organized crime is a necessary step for judicial precision in El Salvador. However, the speed at which these reforms are being pushed—including life imprisonment and its extension to minors—deserves broader debate on due process guarantees and proportionality of sentences.

Key Points

• New Article 344-A would specifically classify gang membership as a local terrorism crime
• Article 345 on criminal associations would apply to non-gang criminal groups, with 10 to 20 year sentences
• The Legislative Assembly could ratify next week the constitutional reform eliminating the ban on life imprisonment
• Life imprisonment would apply to homicide, femicide, rape, and terrorist organization membership, including for minors