La Mano Dura ("Firm Hand" or "Iron Fist") is a set of tough-on-crime policies put in place by Latin American governments in response to the problem of gang violence, organized crime and insecurity.
Gang violence became an increasingly difficult problem for El Salvador in the 1990s and early 2000s, in the wake of the country's civil war.
In 2003, President Francisco Flores of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) unveiled the Plan Mano Dura to curb the power of the gangs and reduce the homicide rate.
[4] These policies were largely kept in place when the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) won the presidency in 2009.
[4] In addition to gang suppression, the Funes administration put in place a series of programs known as Mano Amiga ("Helping Hand"), which included "social prevention, law enforcement, rehabilitation, victim support, and institutional and legal reforms".
[6] La Mano Dura met initial success in reducing the country's homicide rate, with a 14% drop in murders in 2004.
[7] La Mano Dura has come under criticism both for its perceived failure at reducing violent crime in the country and over human-rights concerns.
Despite these criticisms and the failure of La Mano Dura to reduce El Salvador's homicide rate, the policy remains very popular amongst the Salvadoran population.