[2] In July 2003, Salvadoran President Francisco Flores Pérez of ARENA announced the implementation of La Mano Dura (Spanish for "The Iron Fist") security policy to combat the gangs and lower the country's homicide rate.

[7] Upon assuming office in June 2009, President Mauricio Funes of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) maintained some of the policies of Super Mano Dura.

[8] In February 2012, Funes implemented new anti-gang policies to increase the militarization of the police and a proposed curfew to prevent gang members from being in the streets at night.

On 11 March, the online newspaper El Faro suggested that the Salvadoran government had been secretly negotiating with MS-13 and Barrio 18 in an effort to reduce the country's homicide rate.

[11] On 21 March 2012, Bishop Fabio Reynaldo Colindres Abarca [es] claimed that the Catholic Church helped mediate a truce between MS-13 and Barrio 18 to end "deadly attacks".

[13] Minister of Public Security David Munguía Payés also denied the allegations, saying "I want the following statement to be loud and clear [...] the government of the republic is not at any time negotiating with any gang".

The announcement, presented by Víctor Antonio García Cerón, a leader of Barrio 18, at the Quezaltepeque prison, read:[18] We have considered making a second gesture of good faith, which consists of declaring all scholarly centers of the country, public and private, as zones of peace; that is to say, they are no longer to be considered disputed territories, which will permit the students and teachers to carry on with their educational activities with all normality, and the families of the students will be liberated of all worry when they send their children to school... We also declare that henceforth, all involuntary recruitment of adults and children into our ranks will cease.In mid-July 2012, the government arrested 185 gang members in San Salvador as a part of a "mega-operation" intended to capture 200 gang members.

[22] In September 2012, the Salvadoran government formally acknowledged its role in organizing the truce, stating that the Ministry of Public Security directly negotiated with the gangs under the oversight of Funes.

[24] On 22 November 2012, Mijango and Colindres announced that the next phase of the truce would be the implementation of so-called "peace zones", special municipalities where the gangs should aim to eliminate all criminal activities.

Additionally, Minister of Defense José Atilio Benítez Parada announced that the military would withdraw its forces from the peace zones after confirming that MS-13 and Barrio 18 were surrendering their weapons and ceasing criminal activities.

Munguía described the shootout in San Miguel as "a chain of revenge" and denied that the homicides in Ilopango undermined the truce, stating that they were committed by a gang which was not involved in the deal.

[30] In March 2013, Salvadoran authorities admitted that the truce was not working in some parts of the country, and that the gangs were unable to enforce some cliques of members to abide by it, especially in La Unión.

[37] Munguía was ousted as minister of public security on 17 May 2013 following a ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador which stated that his appointment to the position as a former military general was unconstitutional.

Mijango criticized the ruling, claiming that it was "influenced by enemies of the peace process", while gang members lamented his removal, stating that it "puts the security of Salvadorans at risk".

[38] In July 2013, an anonymous police chief told the La Prensa Gráfica newspaper that the gangs were preparing to end the truce and that they were using it stockpile weapons, acquire vehicles, and diversify their means of obtaining revenue.

[39] Additionally, Ricardo Perdomo, who succeeded Munguía as minister of public security, told La Prensa Gráfica that the gangs also used the truce to strengthen their connections with international drug traffickers.

He also added that 22 mayors across the country have contracted gang members to carry out public works projects, such as resurfacing paved roads, which he argued also violated the law.

[29][58] In June 2013, he accused Munguía of suspending fourteen anti-gang operations in San Salvador and leaking information to gang members in October 2012 to help them avoid arrest.

Perdomo stated that the government would continue supporting the truce, but questioned its effectiveness claiming that it allowed the gangs to strengthen their connections with international drug traffickers.

[39] In May 2012, government officials in Guatemala and Honduras announced that they might consider implementing similar agreements with gangs in their countries to reduce crime, seeing the results of the truce in El Salvador.

Pompeyo Bonilla, the minister of security of Honduras, stated that the truce was "a lesson which deserves to be replicated, to attempt it in my country, where we regrettably have the highest homicide rate".

[80] Adam Blackwell, a representative of the Organization of American States (OAS), and Romulo Emiliani, a bishop of the Catholic Church, were present at a prison in San Pedro Sula when the gangs formally announced that they were committed to ending gang-related violence.

[84] On 25 August 2015, the Supreme Court declared that both MS-13 and Barrio 18 were officially designated as terrorist organizations, stating that they were responsible for "systematic attacks on the lives, security, and personal integrity of the population".

[86] Additionally, the rise in homicides in 2014 and 2015 led to the revival of the Sombra Negra, a vigilante death squad with supposed police connections which targeted and killed gang members.

[92] On 12 June 2018, Attorney General Jorge Cortéz requested Funes' extradition to El Salvador to stand trial for money laundering charges unrelated to the truce.

[99] During the trial, a former high ranking government employee only referred to as "Franco" testified that Funes secretly authorized US$50,000 from the country's reserve fund to be transferred in cash to "necessary sources" ("fuentes necesarias") to those who collaborated in the truce.

He stated that he would seek to impeach Perdomo and have the Legislative Assembly remove Munguía's immunity from prosecution, as he had since been appointed as the country's minister of defense by Sánchez Cerén.

[1][106] On 29 July 2014, Rodríguez was arrested and charged with bringing illegal objects into the country's prisons, including drugs, money, and cell phones; illicit association with gangs; and influencing trafficking.

El Faro alleged that the government promised to repeal laws and relax security in prisons in exchange for the gangs supporting Nuevas Ideas (NI), Bukele's political party, in the 2021 legislative election to bring them to power.

[131] In May 2022, El Faro alleged that the spike in homicides occurred as a result of a breakdown in negotiations between the government and the gangs following the arrest of a high-ranking member of MS-13 in mid-March 2022.