El Salvador Early Release Plan Names 10,629

EL SALVADOR · PRISONS

The El Salvador early release plan for jailed gang helpers now has numbers, with 10,629 detainees due for review. President Nayib Bukele said on Friday 16 October 2026 that about half of them, roughly 5,300 people, could join a work programme and leave prison sooner.

For US readers, the stakes include reports of US citizens held in Salvadoran prisons and a security record that El Salvador sells to US tourists and investors. NBC reported on 18 October that one US citizen, Nelson Vladimir Hernández, has been held since December 2022.

Relatives of detainees answered on Monday 19 October with doubts about who qualifies and who decides. CNN en Español spoke to families who say their jailed sons and brothers have no gang ties.

We covered the first announcement in Bukele May Free 50% of Gang Collaborators, published on 14 October. The new figures narrow that early talk of half of all prisoners to half of one defined group.

What Bukele Clarified on 16 October

Bukele first floated the idea on Tuesday 13 October, after a question about his brother Ibrajim Bukele’s claim that a commission reviews detainee cases. He then gave figures on Friday 16 October at a press conference beside Costa Rica’s president, Laura Fernández.

Fernández was visiting the CECOT mega-prison to study controls for Costa Rica’s own new high-security prison. CECOT is the Terrorism Confinement Centre, the flagship jail of Bukele’s campaign against gangs.

Bukele showed a chart of 96,457 prisoners linked to gangs, sorted into four groups. The top group holds 42,125 full gang members, known as homeboys, followed by 25,910 people ranked below full members.

A third group has 17,793 habitual helpers, called paros, who aided a gang constantly. The smallest group is the 10,629 casual collaborators, whom Bukele described as people who did momentary or occasional favours.

Bukele said an early review suggests that about 50% of those 10,629 could enter the Cero Ocio programme. Half of 10,629 is about 5,300 people, the same figure the Salvadoran daily elsalvador.com used.

He insisted that no gang member will ever go free under the plan. He called the idea that half of all detainees would be freed a distortion by some media.

Cero Ocio, meaning Zero Idleness, gives inmates benefits in exchange for work on public projects. It is meant for convicted inmates, but humanitarian groups say most state-of-exception detainees have not been convicted.

Bukele argued that inmates should leave sooner and reformed instead of waiting 10 years to leave more criminal. He added that every person in the group is guilty of something, even if the offence is minor.

Bukele did not say when the review would start or which institution would decide each case. Elsalvador.com noted that the announcement is not yet a decision to free anyone.

Families Question the Criteria

Josefina Elías says she has not seen her son René Campos, now 32, for three years and four months. He worked as a cook on a cruise ship and was detained over alleged collaboration with gangs, she said.

“My son is innocent, and I will keep raising my voice for his innocence until his freedom is recovered,” she said. She belongs to the Movement of Victims of the State of Exception, known as Movir, which has filed case files arguing that some detainees have no gang links.

Movir coordinator Samuel Ramírez says innocent people are those with no gang ties who were seized arbitrarily for living in a community the gangs controlled. Bukele himself said the group of 10,629 includes people who helped gangs out of fear or to survive in gang-held areas.

Delmy Alvarado says her brother is neither a collaborator nor a gang member. She asks the government to review each case and not to push people without gang links to admit a crime for the sake of a benefit.

Alvarado also fears that people who leave would carry restrictions and could be detained again at any moment. She says nobody should have to plead guilty to a crime they did not commit in order to regain freedom.

The same report says the lack of detail on the criteria and conditions worries relatives. Humanitarian groups also question a label that counts collaboration without weighing the fear the gangs spread in the areas they ruled.

A Crackdown Now in Its Fifth Year

The state of exception began in March 2022 after a weekend that left 62 homicides in 24 hours. It allows arrests without a warrant and, by official figures, has put more than 93,000 people in prison.

Rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International criticise it and cite at least 500 deaths in custody. The government has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Bukele says El Salvador holds about 120,000 inmates in all, a larger number than the 96,457 on his gang chart. Government figures put the homicide rate at 35.8 per 100,000 people in 2019 and 1.36 in 2025.

The same report notes that Bukele is starting a campaign for a third term in general elections called for February. No source reviewed ties the release review to that campaign.

A US Citizen Among the Detained

NBC said on Sunday 18 October that Nelson Vladimir Hernández was arrested in December 2022, three days before his wedding. The Salvadoran government accuses him of gang links, while his family says he has no criminal record.

We could not confirm the accusation or the family’s account independently. It is not known whether his case would fall into any of the four groups.

What It Means for You

Travellers see a country that markets very low crime, with the government’s 2025 homicide rate of 1.36 per 100,000 people at the centre of that pitch. Any El Salvador early release would put that record under closer watch.

Anyone planning a visit or a move can read our El Salvador and Its Neighbours in Central America guide and our San Salvador city guide. The wider picture is in El Salvador in Latin America, Its Role, Weight and Alliances.

Costa Rica is copying the model, as our report Costa Rica Opens Gang Prison for 5,100 shows. Its president, Laura Fernández, visited CECOT on Friday 16 October.

What Is Not Known

It is not known when the review starts, who sits on it or which law lets it shorten a detainee’s time in prison. Bukele named no institution and no date.

The sources reviewed do not show how many of the 10,629 have been convicted and how many are held without trial. Nor is it clear how a detainee could prove that he had no gang link.

The four-group classification is the government’s own, and no independent count of the groups was found. Rights groups question how collaboration is judged without weighing fear of the gangs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the El Salvador early release plan?

Bukele said his government will review 10,629 detainees described as casual gang collaborators. About half of them could join the Cero Ocio work programme and leave sooner.

Will gang members be freed?

Bukele said no gang member will go free. The plan covers only people the government classes as casual collaborators.

How many people could leave prison?

About 5,300 people, which is half of the 10,629 under review. Bukele stressed that each case must still be examined.

What do the families say?

Relatives and the group Movir say innocent people sit among the detainees and should not have to admit crimes they did not commit. They also ask for clear criteria and a review of each case.

When will the review start?

No date has been given. Bukele did not name the institution that will decide each case.

Sources: elsalvador.com, 17 October 2026; CNN en Español, 19 October 2026; ABC, 17 October 2026; Semana, 17 October 2026; El Universal, 17 October 2026; NBC, 18 October 2026.

Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error

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