Saturday marked the first time El Salvador had had a murder-free day in more than three years.
On average, the Central American country had 12 murders a day in 2009, but that average has risen to 18 a day so far in 2012.
April 14 was the Salvadoran’s first homicide-free day since President Mauricio Funes took office in 2009.
The country is said to have the highest murder rate in the world with a homicide rate of 66 per 100,000 people. In 2011, the small country was 2nd on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s 10 most dangerous countries in the world list.
Mexico’s drug cartel’s are believed to be a major contributing factor to El Salvador’s murder rate as well as Guatemala’s, Honduras, and Belize, as these countries are used as transit points.
Authorities are said to be cracking down on violence and last month, two of El Salvador’s rival gangs called a truce.
President Funes has claimed credit for the murder-free day, citing his government’s security measures as a success.
