For 25 years, the police and soldiers in El Salvador have been fighting a war against two gangs, Barrio 18 and MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha. Both gangs have roots in Los Angeles, California, where thousands of Salvadorans sought refugee during El Salvador’s civil war, which lasted from 1980 to 1992. The civil war in the country ended long ago, but the battles between the two gangs have not, and both groups continue to thrive as their founding members have been deported from the United States to El Salvador, reports The Daily Beast.
MS-13 and Barrio 18 not only cast a wide net throughout the country, they also outnumber the authorities fighting them in many places, according to The Daily Beast. In areas like Panchimalco, a semi-forested working class suburb on the capital city San Salvador’s southern fringes, there are 520 policemen, assisted by about 150 soldiers from El Salvador’s army facing roughly 3,000 gang members (1,746 from MS-13, 671 from Barrio 18 Revolucionarios and 379 from Barrio 18 Sureños). Last year, El Salvador saw 3,947 homicides, which averages out to about 60 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest murder rates in the world.
“The zones within the urban districts, but close to rural parts of the country, are where the gangs have proliferated the most. They have the opportunity to be in contact with a large population, but in situations where, when the police arrive, they can flee to a rural zone,” said Howard Cotto, director general of El Salvador’s Policía Nacional Civil (PNC), to The Daily Beast. See how the authorities are trying to take this battle to the gangs spreading mayhem in their country.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
