Socially progressive World Surf League to plant bush outside notorious El Salvador mega prison

"For the inmates, chiefly the ones there accidentally, the bush will represent life's simple joys..."

Exciting times in professional surfing, what with Kelly Slater being gifted one last shot at a 12th title and the World Surf League Championship Tour rolling into so-hot-right-now El Salvador. The Surf City Pro opens its waiting period, tomorrow, in La Libertad and our heroes and heroines are already there, practicing their trade on the Little Thumb’s user-friendly waves.

Less than one hour away, by car, is the now-famous Terrorism Confinement Center at the pointy end of the Trump administration’s mass deportation program. Immigrants, labeled as Venezuelan gang members, were absconded by plane in the dead of night and dumped in the sprawling complex over a judge’s express order to chill opening the door for a potential constitutional crisis.

Built in in 2022, the largest prison in Latin America has the capacity for 40,000 people. According to Foreign Policy, “El Salvador now has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 2 percent of the population in prison. The country’s prison population has exploded from an already overcrowded 38,000 people at the beginning of (President) Bukele’s administration in 2019 to an estimated 120,000 people today. Most prisoners have not yet been convicted of any crime.”

Sin Libertad.

Conditions inside are described as extremely bleak with lack of bunks, wanton violence and bad vibes. Life not fun, at all, for those trapped behind bars and especially those trapped behind bars due administrative mistakes.

Well, the World Surf League to the rescue.

Known for being one of the most socially progressive of all sports’ leagues, the “global home of surfing” is reportedly planning on sending two or three of its stars to plant a bush outside the mega-complex, during one of the lay days, in order to brighten the overall mood.

“For the inmates, chiefly the ones there accidentally, the bush will represent life’s simple joys,” the director of the non-profit WSL PURE declared, continuing, “A small reminder that happiness comes from within.”

That last bit was seen as a subtle jab at Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who toured the facility recently and reminded the inmates that happiness can also come from a $50,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona.

American dreams.