evidence: For decades, life choices were bleak for many in El Salvador: Leave or die. Dubbed the "murder capital of the world," there was an average of a homicide an hour in early 2016, in this country of just 6 million people — two million fewer than call New York City home. Gang warfare drove an exodus of Salvadorans, mostly north to the US. But now, the security situation is so different that people are returning, even after building good new lives over decades in the US. [...] Villatoro’s words echo the brutal reality El Salvador has faced for years. He claims that gang members were required to kill at least one person as part of their initiation into groups like MS-13 or Barrio 18. [...] "In El Salvador, murders are down 70 percent. Why are they down? They’re down because they’re sending their murderers to the United States of America," Trump claimed, offering no evidence to support his statement.