The blurry, four-minute, 40-second video apparently shot on a cellular phone and making the rounds on social media sites shows the naked women dancing for hundreds of prisoners and a guard gathered in a central, common patio inside El Salvador’s notorious prison in the town of Izalco 30 miles west of the capital.
The video has flamed debate over whether a now-dead truce between gangs, which dramatically lowered the violent nation’s homicide rates, came about because the government began treating killers and thieves like rock stars.
The video, which spread over the weekend, was filmed in 2013, during the truce brokered under the administration of then-President Mauricio Funes of the left-leaning Faribundo Marti National Liberation party, known as the FMLN for its initials in Spanish.
“We cannot be indifferent to these acts because this was the time when criminal groups and gangs became stronger,” said Salvadoran Congressional Deputy Patricia Valdivieso of the National Republican Alliance, or ARENA as the current, conservative opposition party is known in El Salvador, according to newspaper El Diario de Hoy.
Another lawmaker said the raunchy prison party was under investigation by prosecutors and that the congress members should leave the matter alone.
“This is not a legislative matter and it would be bad for legislators to stick their noses in,” said Jackeline Rivera of the FMLN.
Members of El Salvador’s two most notorious rival gangs, Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18, who are usually separated in Central American prisons to prevent violence, are allegedly seen in the video watching the naked dancers together with smiles on their faces.
