A pretty big deal: El Salvador celebrates a day without murder

• 3 years since El Salvador last had a full 24-hour period without a murder source

» That’s the first time since President Mauricio Funes took office in 2009, when an estimated 12 murders were taking place every day. That number got as high as 18 murders per-day in early 2012, in a country with less than 6 million people, according to a 2009 census. For comparison: New York City, which had a population of roughly 8.5 million according to the 2010 U.S. Census, averaged only 1.3 murders per day during the same period. Analysts suspect the violence has abated in the wake of a recent truce between Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas and the Mara Salvatruchas, as well as diminished fighting between the Maras and rival gang Mara 18.

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