El Salvador's zero leisure: Inmates work to repay society

The President of El Salvador is fighting crime in various ways. Nayib Bukele has ordered, among other things, the burning of three tonnes of cocaine seized by the police. Now the president is introducing the "Zero Leisure" program, which concerns inmates in prisons.

South America is known for its drug connections, which are smuggled to other continents. Authorities in countries where drug cartels operate are doing their utmost to stop dangerous mobsters and halt the cocaine trade, which is most often produced in South America. However, smugglers are constantly coming up with new methods of transporting drugs, complicating the efforts of the justice system.

Nayib Bukele took power over El Salvador in 2019. Since then, the president has been actively combating crime. His project "Zero Leisure" dictates that prisoners must work to support themselves, such as growing crops, raising animals, or working in bakeries. According to the president, such activities save the state money, which no longer has to pay for the upkeep of prisoners, and also rehabilitates the inmates and teaches them skills that can help them find a job after release.

The Director of El Salvador's Penitentiary Centres, Osiris Luna Meza, explained in an interview with "Valuetainment": - This is a transformation of the penitentiary system by President Nayib Bukele's government, where those willing to change their lives learn various skills while serving their sentences.

Thanks to the savings from not having to pay for food, prison directors can fund a range of courses and training, preparing inmates for work after their release. These include workshops on screen printing, printing, hammock production, and other handicrafts.

The "Zero Leisure" program is also intended to make prisoners give back to society for the harm they have caused. In 2021 alone, inmates in El Salvador renovated 96 schools, 84 police stations, and 162 healthcare facilities.

The actions of President Bukele are yielding results. Since he took office in July 2019, the number of homicides has dropped from 2,398 in 2019 to just 154 in 2023.