San Salvador, El Salvador, Oct 27, 2009 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador expressed concern this week over the increase in violence in El Salvador and the likelihood that the government will employ military personnel to put an end to it.

The archbishop’s remarks came after President Mauricio Funes stated that he may employ 6,000 soldiers to assist the police force “with regards to public safety.”

Currently, the president explained, “1,760 soldiers are working with police to patrol 20 municipalities considered to be extremely dangerous.”

The archbishop then spoke cautioning that this step could lead to genocide.

“Any manner of thinking that is arbitrary and outside the law which produces violence only increases the spiral of violence and is a concrete threat that could lead society towards genocide,” the prelate said.

According to official statistics, so far this year, 3,000 murders have taken place in the small, Central American country.

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