El Salvador’s Police Chief Dies in Helicopter Crash

Americas|El Salvador’s Police Chief Dies in Helicopter Crash

The chief of El Salvador’s national police, who played a key role in the government’s campaign to jail thousands of people as part of a crackdown on gang violence, has died in a helicopter crash, the authorities said early Monday.

A Salvadoran Air Force helicopter carrying the police chief, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, crashed in an eastern region of the country near the border with Honduras, according to the Salvadoran military. Everyone on board died, it said.

The passengers on the helicopter included Manuel Coto, the former head of a credit union, the military said. Mr. Coto, who was arrested in Honduras over the weekend, has been accused of money laundering in El Salvador. Mr. Coto was being transported back to El Salvador.

Mr. Arriaza Chicas served as police chief under President Nayib Bukele, a popular leader who easily won re-election in February on the strength of a contentious crackdown on gangs.

On Monday, Mr. Bukele said on social media that the helicopter crash could not be considered a mere “accident,” though he provided no evidence of foul play. He said his government would ask for international help with an investigation.

“Director Arriaza Chicas was a fundamental piece in bringing peace and security to our people,” Mr. Bukele wrote.

El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, once had one of the world’s highest homicide rates outside of a war zone. That changed after Mr. Bukele swept to power in a 2019 election and declared a state of emergency to quell gang violence.

The campaign against violence produced a crackdown on civil liberties. Mr. Bukele’s government has jailed thousands of innocent people, suspended key civil liberties indefinitely and flooded the streets with soldiers. The advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in a 2022 report that he was “responsible for widespread human rights violations during the state of emergency.”