El Salvador critics denounce their government as a dictatorship. But these people say they’ve never felt so free

For decades, life choices were bleak for many in El Salvador: Leave or die. Dubbed the “murder capital of the world,” there was an average of a homicide an hour in early 2016, in this country of just 6 million people — two million fewer than call New York City home. Gang warfare drove an exodus of Salvadorans, mostly north to the US. But now, the security situation is so different that people are returning, even after building good new lives over decades in the US.

The transformation is because of President Nayib Bukele and his increasing grip on power that has allowed him to bring peace to the streets albeit with a cost. Some constitutional rights like due process have been suspended under emergency measures, leading to a massive increase in incarceration, and an outcry from human rights groups. CNN traveled to the country to see and hear what Salvadorans think.

When Victor Bolaños and his wife, Blanca, lost their asylum case in a US immigration court, their ‘American dream’ came crashing down. When they agreed to accept a voluntary departure order, the couple knew they had to leave behind the life they had been building for over 15 years in Denver and return to their native El Salvador and the conditions that had made them flee.