Fujimori Tours El Salvador's CECOT, Cites Model for Peru
The Peruvian president visited the maximum-security facility after expressing interest in building a similar institution during her campaign.
By David Marshall ·
Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori toured CECOT on Thursday, joining a list of Latin American leaders who have visited the high-security facility in El Salvador. She arrived as part of a diplomatic visit that includes a scheduled meeting with President Nayib Bukele.
Fujimori stated she views the Salvadoran approach as a successful model. She noted that Peru faced historical challenges in the 1980s and early 1990s while confronting two major terrorist groups. Her administration is currently dealing with an internal security crisis driven by extortion and rising homicide rates.
The visit took place in one of the prison's halls, where Salvadoran officials outlined the infrastructure design. Ministers Gustavo Villatoro and Francis Merino Monroy explained surveillance protocols and mechanisms used to isolate gang members from one another. The delegation focused on technical exchanges, including the transfer of expertise in citizen security and digital security.
CECOT opened in 2023 with a capacity for 40,000 inmates. It gained global attention in 2025 when the Trump administration sent over 250 Venezuelan deportees to the facility. These individuals, who had alleged ties to Tren de Aragua, were later released and claimed they faced beatings and torture. The prison remains a focal point for international debate on security strategies.
El Salvador has imprisoned more than 90,000 people since March 2022 under a state of exception. This emergency measure suspends certain constitutional rights to combat gang violence. Human rights groups have documented thousands of cases of arbitrary arrests during this period. The country now holds the highest incarceration rate per capita in the region, with approximately 1.5% of its population behind bars.
