A truce between El Salvador's two largest street gangs has helped reduce the country's homicide rate, one of the highest in the world. Photo / AP
No one was murdered in El Salvador on Saturday, marking the nation's first homicide-free day in almost three years.
In a statement released on Sunday, President Mauricio Funes said the murder-free day was the first since he came to power in June 2009.
"After years when the number of murders
reached alarming levels of up to 18 per day, we saw not one homicide in the country."
When Funes took office three years ago, the country, plagued by violent drug cartels, averaged about 12 murders per day. This number had risen to about 18 per day at the beginning of 2012, only dropping when rival gangs called a truce last month.
Funes attributed the drop in violence to his government's increased security measures, reported Reuters.
