Convicted Priest Says El Salvador Backed Gang Work

MADRID (AP) — Those who love Antonio Rodriguez know him affectionately as "Father Tony," the Roman Catholic priest who spent 15 years working in El Salvador's roughest neighborhoods to get vulnerable young men out of a gang lifestyle that often ends in death. Others say he got too close to the gangs that plague the Central American nation, helping hardened inmates get special treatment and potentially enabling their prison extortion rackets. Salvadoran authorities convicted Rodriguez of criminal association and other charges this month before immediately freeing him under a plea deal. [...] Rodriguez's murky case underscores the vast reach of organized crime in El Salvador, and his allegations of high-level backing point to a desperate bid to preserve a shaky street truce that only temporarily lowered sky-high murder rates. In an interview with The Associated Press, he said he acted on instructions from Security Minister Ricardo Perdomo and had long conversations with Salvador Sanchez Ceren in which the now-president expressed his support. Rodriguez was found guilty Sept.

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