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If you’ve ever considered visiting a trendy El Salvador for its lush jungle, pristine Pacific beaches and vibrant capital, but you’ve always been surprised at how dangerous it is ––was?––as a destination, we have great news for you.
For the first time since records began, the US State Department has added the Central American country to its list of reasonably safe destinations, known among travel geeks as Level 2, comparable to Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica.
In other words, El Salvador is no longer off-limits to American citizens, and they can plan their trip knowing that the time has now come. (much) less likely that damage will come their way:
El Salvador finally gets its Level 2 status!
On November 8, 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs downgraded El Salvador from Level 3 to Level 2, finally ending the significant improvement in safety throughout the country after months of consultation pressure.
Before 2022, El Salvador was known as one of the murder capitals of Central America, with staggering levels of violence and petty crime plaguing a majority of its cities, especially San Salvador, the capital where over half a million of the 6.3 million inhabitants of the country. inhabitants.
However, in just two years it went from being a crime hotspot one of the safe havens of the regionlargely because of incumbent President Nayib Bukele’s tough stance on organized crime: it has not been without criticism, but it appears to be paying off.
In March 2022, Mr. Bukele announced a “state of exception” for the entire territory, which made jailing criminals and traffickers a lot easier – some would argue arbitrary, with critics pointing out that due process was not always observed, but the numbers don’t lie:
El Salvador went from a shocking murder rate of 105 per 100,000 residents in 2015 to just 2.4 per 100,000 in the United States. last count: Either the usual killers have since changed their minds, or they ended up in prison after Bukele’s mass incarceration program.
We count on the latter.
How safe is El Salvador in reality?
According to the Global Security Report 88% of El Salvadorians believe their country is now safe to live inmaking the country number 8 on the overall map, even ahead of exceptionally safe countries like Canada, Iceland, Finland and Japan.
That doesn’t mean El Salvador is safer than those countries: as we have indicated earliera majority of El Salvadorians may feel that their livelihood has improved, contributing to positive turnout, but a Swiss or Icelander may be less likely to feel as safe in El Salvador.
Are all a matter of perspective.
Be that as it may, the country’s success in tackling crime and making it low risk by Central American and Latin American standards is truly unprecedented, if not to say mind-blowing.
This is why the US has changed its position on El Salvador
The US Department has 4 main categories to categorize countries when it comes to security:
- Level 1: Normal precautions should be taken
- Level 2: More caution should be exercised
- Level 3: Travel needs to be reconsidered
- Level 4: Travel is strongly discouraged
During the years when the country was struggling with the increase in crime, El Salvador was placed at levels 3 and 4 at different times, and even in 2023, when it had already become clear that the security situation had changed, Washington refrained from review advice.
The fact that it is now present on Level 2 sends a strong signal for the Americans their own government recognizes the efforts of the El Salvadorian government to reduce crime, but is confident that they will continue to keep their promise to citizens and tourists.
They have noted ‘crime remains a problem in El Salvador‘, while adding that ‘the past two years have seen a significant reduction in gang-related activity and associated crime’, with a noticeable decline in violent crimes and homicides.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports the ‘State of Exception’, which stays in placeciting the suspension of prisoners’ constitutional rights, and the fact that several U.S. and foreign citizens are currently being held under “harsh” conditions.
We don’t know if these individuals are involved in crime, although that is very likely. And again, as long as you have a clean record and are not coming to El Salvador with malicious intent, you will be welcomed with candid comments. poor.
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, and not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included in the post.
