El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele declared in a social-media post that the country now has “the best prison system in the world,” releasing a slick video that highlights thousands of inmates in matching uniforms performing factory and construction work. The promotional clip was first shared by prisons director Osiris Luna, who is under U.S. Magnitsky sanctions for allegedly negotiating with gang leaders, and later amplified by Bukele. According to captions in the video, more than 48,000 inmates—described as non-gang members—participate in the ‘Cero Ocio’ programme, working to shave time off their sentences. The government says about 6,000 prisoners will manufacture 150,000 pairs of shoes each month, while another 15,000 are assigned to the state-owned builder Constructora El Salvador. Rights organisations and opposition lawmakers contend the initiative masks mounting allegations of arbitrary arrests, overcrowding and ill-treatment under a state of exception that has been in force since March 2022. Thousands of detainees reportedly remain behind bars without formal charges, and the U.S. Treasury cited clandestine negotiations with gangs when sanctioning Luna in 2021. Bukele’s boast contrasts sharply with neighbouring Ecuador, where a new InSight Crime investigation links the collapse of that nation’s penal system to a surge in organised-crime violence. The juxtaposition underscores how prisons remain a flashpoint for security and human-rights debates across Latin America.