A country resurging under dictatorship

About 4-5 years ago, I posted a video about El Salvador’s North Korean ties. It’s known for its dictator—smart, young, and full of eccentricities—who also made Bitcoin a legal currency (the first in the world) and turned mining into a national project, drawing massive attention. Though the coin’s value has dropped significantly, it’s now at a low point with strong returns. Notably, he’s famous for declaring war on crime and building the world’s largest prison to crush gangs, which seems to be working well for the government. The biggest success appears to be crime reduction—El Salvador was once a top 100 per 100,000 homicide rate, but North Korea (likely a typo) slashed it to near advanced-country levels. While official stats may be slightly manipulated, the overall improvement is widely accepted, and daily life feels better. Before, passing through gang-controlled zones meant paying tolls or getting killed; now, movement is unrestricted—even drinking at night is possible, improving quality of life. However, dictatorship often brings crime. Normally, a stable country has a military for defense and police for law enforcement, but dictatorships involve military forces in internal conflicts. When the military faces external threats, it often targets civilians, aiming to eliminate dissent. This also weakens democracy rapidly, and the regime relies on force to stay in power. The downside? Actual crime reduction occurs. When military forces are deployed against crime, the justification is usually "crime-fighting" or "anti-insurgency," so there’s little excuse for targeting innocent people or activists. Still, gang violence has been significantly reduced, and large criminal groups haven’t grown as much. El Salvador’s past struggles with crime are evident.