El Salvador is proposing to order telephone companies to block cell phone signals inside prisons where a state of emergency has been declared, in order to prevent gang leaders from ordering murders or extortions while incarcerated. The move is among a raft of measures the government proposed to Congress on Thursday as the small Central American state struggles to combat record-high murder rates that have made it one of the world's most violent countries. The government declared a state of emergency on Wednesday in the country's seven most dangerous prisons, where the proposed measures would be introduced first if legislators give their assent in a vote likely to be held on Friday.



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