Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty/El Salvador Travel
Every country has a reputation, be it for especially flavorful food, extraordinary architecture, or stunning natural beauty and historic sites. Central American countries have varied reputations, such as Costa Rica being the golden child for adventure seekers and Guatemala and Honduras being the place to head for Mayan archeological sites.
As for El Salvador’s reputation, up until a few years ago, it was pretty much known for being the place to avoid because of gang violence. But that’s changing quickly and dramatically.
Most Americans likely don’t know much about El Salvador, partly because our news outlets rarely cover the country, and when they do, they only focus on its tumultuous past. But over the past few years, El Salvador’s new president, Nayib Bukele, has made sweeping reforms (including incarcerating an estimated 64,000 people), and as a result, the homicide rate has fallen precipitously. Thousands of gang members have been locked up, and a new prison is being built to house an estimated 40,000 suspected gang members. El Salvador is now one of the safest places in Central America.