º£½Ç´óÉñ

º£½Ç´óÉñ / Text

With US money, El Salvador to begin wiretapping to stop organized crime

The US has given a $5 million grant to make the wiretapping possible, writes a guest blogger.

By Tim Muth , Guest blogger

• A version of this post ran on the author's blog. The views expressed are the author's own.

El Salvador's government will start wiretapping and telecommunications intercept operations from a new center beginning in May announced the country's attorney general Romeo Barahona (link in Spanish). 

The Center for Telecommunications Interception (CIT) was funded with a $5 million grant from the United States. The National Assembly had given the government the power to eavesdrop on phone calls in a law passed in February 2010. The ability to tap phone calls is described as a tool for combating organized crime.

The website InSight Crime describes the US push for these actions in El Salvador and other Central American countries:

– Tim Muth covers the news and politics of El Salvador on his blog.

Get daily or weekly updates from CSMonitor.com delivered to your inbox. Sign up today.