El Salvador Has First Murder-Free Day In Three Years

Not one person was reported murdered in El Salvador on Saturday, which makes it the first murder-free day in almost here years for the country -- long hijacked by violent drug gangs.

After years when the number of murders reached alarming levels of up to 18 per day, we saw not one homicide in the country, President Mauricio Funes said in a statement released on Sunday, reported Reuters. Saturday was the first murder free day for the gang-ridden country since Funes was elected president in June 2009.

At the beginning of Funes' term as president, El Salvador averaged about 12 murders a day. In 2012, the murder rate increased to almost 18 a day.

However, fortunately for the citizens of El Salvador, rival drug gangs called a truce last month, reported Reuters. Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18, the country's two most powerful gangs, have elected to stop their feud for the time being.

Recently, the United Nations tallied date from the country and found that El Salvador has a murder rate of 66 per 100,000 people, reported Reuters. This one of the highest murder rates in the world.

However, much of the violence is blamed on Mexican organized crime syndicates. The cartels use the country has a transport station and often engage in gun battles with each other and authorities.

Poverty, lack of education and vast political corruption is also seen as causes for the high murder rate, reported the Daily Mail.

Funes attended this weekend's Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. He credited his government's increased security measures for what he said was the drop in crime and ordered the military to increase routine security checks, reported Reuters.