The Cost of Prison Supplies

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St stalls have popped up in the last year or so. People are selling necessities that families can buy to send to prisoners. So things like Boxer Short, soap, cereal. Government suggests families send $150 worth of supplies every two weeks. Prisoners seldom come from middle-class families and over half the population earns less than $328 a month.

A country that was not long ago gripped by gang violence and crime is slowly emerging from fear, thanks to a brutal roundup of young men by a wildly popular, social-media-savvy president. The streets may be safer, but now it is El Salvador’s democracy that is in danger—and neighbouring countries’ leaders may take lessons from its budding autocrat.

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