Crime in El Salvador

The phenomenon of violence in El Salvador is a serious one. Witness to this are the more than 100 deaths per year from homicide for every 100,000 inhabitants experienced by this country in recent years. In spite of this, however, sufficient efforts have not been made to understand or deal with this phenomenon in this small Central American country.^[1]

Violence

Today El Salvador experiences some of the highest murder rates in the Latin America; it is also considered an epicenter of the gang crisis, along with Guatemala and Honduras.^[2] In response to this, the government has set up countless programs to try to guide the youth away from gang membership; so far its efforts have not produced any quick results. One of the government programs was a gang-reform called "Super Mano Dura" (Super Firm Hand). Super Mano Dura had little success and was highly criticized by the UN. It saw temporary success in 2004 but then saw a rise in crime after 2005. In 2004, the rate of intentional homicides per 100,000 citizens was 41, with 60% of the homicides committed were gang-related.^[2]

The Salvadoran government reported that the Super Mano Dura gang legislation led to a 14% drop in murders in 2004. However, El Salvador currently has 65 homocides per 100,000 inhabitants, more than triple the current rate of Mexico.^[3][4] There are an estimated 25,000 gangmembers at large in El Salvador with another 9,000 in prison.^[3] The well most known gangs, called "maras" in colloquial Spanish, are Mara Salvatrucha and their rivals Calle 18; maras are, or at least were, hunted by death squads including Sombra Negra. New rivals also include the rising mara, The Rebels 13.^[5]

See also

• Illegal drug trade in El Salvador
• Human trafficking in El Salvador

References

1. ^ Crime and Violence: Regional Case Studies: El Salvador
2. ^ ^{a b} Ribando, Clare (2005-05-10). "Gangs in Central America" (PDF). Congressional Research Service (The Library of Congress). http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS22141.pdf. Retrieved 2007-06-30. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "In the New Gangland of El Salvador," New York Review of Books, 10 November 2011, p.46
4. ^ Bresnahan, Ryann (2006-07-21). "El Salvador Dispatches Additional Contingent to Iraq:Domestic Issues Overrule Anxiety over War". Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA). http://www.coha.org/2006/08/21/el-salvador-dispatches-additional-contingent-to-iraq/. Retrieved 2007-06-30. 
5. ^ "Número de Víctimas y Tasas de Homicidios Dolosos en El Salvador (1999–2006)" (in Spanish) (PDF). Observatorio Centroamericano sobre Violencia. http://www.ocavi.com/docs_files/file_386.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-26.