How El Salvador Destroyed Their Brutal Gangs Changes Everything!

Okay, they first came to power in 2019 and for almost 2 years have overseen a vast and

brutal

crackdown on

gangs

. Human rights groups are as shocked as our families, as more than 65,000 people have been arrested over the past year across the country. More than 70,000 people have been arrested. have already been arrested proudly touting a huge decrease in the country's homicide rate March 25, 202 2 87 people were murdered in El Salvador in retaliation for the government's seizure of two bus routes in the capital that

gangs

They extorted to obtain income. The perpetrators were members of the MS13. that ruthless criminal group that we all know operating outside of this country and across its borders for decades, but in the midst of its formidable rain, Salvadoran President Na Bukel and his government

destroyed

this gang and its nefarious network with just one move, one move that had changed the course of this.

The Nation's History Forever Home February 1980 El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero wrote an open letter to then-President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, begging him to stop military aid to the Salvadoran regime. Romero expressed in this letter that the United States was providing aid to the same people who were taking over El Salvador and oppressing its people at the time when the Spanish were in control of El Salvador's resources while ruling the Salvadorans by hand. of iron. Romero sought peace for his people, but tragically paid with his life as he was assassinated just 3 weeks later and even though the peace that Archbishop Romero desired was finally achieved by Salvadorans almost 40 years later under President Naib Buele and his ruthless anti-violence policies.

Later, those four decades until the Redemption were filled with

their

own struggles, conflicts, and ultimately, deaths. March 31, 19, 1880, 250,000 Salvadorans gathered. for Archbishop Romero's funeral but during the service government sponsored snipers attacked the crowd killing 42 people and wounding more than 200 it was a complete Massac and although some men involved were arrested these Salvadorans had no idea that the worst was yet to come to come December 2, 1980 four women American missionaries were kidnapped by five Salvadoran national guards. They were taken to an isolated place where they were beaten, raped and killed by these guards. Their bodies were found the next morning, sparking outrage from local and international organizations.

US President Jimmy Carter responded by temporarily cutting off. of Aid to El Salvador giving way to a group of civilians to rise up and form

their

own paramilitary group called El Fundo Martí National Liberation Front, also known as the fmln, these guys fought fire with fire retaliating against each attack orchestrated by groups Salvadoran military when the fmln was finally in action. On the verge of taking back their country a dramatic change occurred with the election of the new American president Ronald Reagan, the Reagan administration actually relied on the Salvadoran Armed Forces to increase its financial aid by $10 million, of which 5 million would go to rifles, ammunition, grenades and helicopters, and while other world leaders were perplexed by this move, some others had joined the military government in Chile and provided substantial training and tactical advice to the Salvadoran Armed Forces, while the Argentine military dictatorship also supported the saf as part of its operation.

Charlie, now listen carefully because what I'm going to say is that the following brings together

everything

we've talked about so far. The 1989 FMLN attacks on the Salvadoran Armed Forces demonstrated that the conflict was at a stalemate, with neither side appearing capable of achieving a strategic advantage at the same time that world events were happening. By eliminating the foreign support that had sustained both parties, the collapse of the Soviet Union marked the loss of crucial allies for the fmln. On the other hand, the end of the Cold War changed American policy in that region and there was no longer a convincing alliance.

The interest of the United States in supporting the unpleasant Salvadoran counterinsurgency. This reality, along with the aftershock of countless murders, led the United States to push for a peace agreement. While all this was happening, approximately 880,000 soldiers and civilians in El Salvador had died as a result. From this war, almost the country's population had fled to the US, settling mainly in Los Angeles and around California and, although the Salvadoran war eventually came to an end, violence in the country continued, many people had moved to Los Angeles as refugees during the war they became involved in gang violence during this time, the United States War on Drugs and anti-immigration policies had become popular, this resulted in illegal immigration reform and the Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which required the deportation of documented or undocumented immigrants with criminal records at the end of their lives.

Jail Sentences The big surprise in this story is the fact that these gang members were not seasoned killers or some kind of angry mob, they were actually young Salvadoran teenagers. Now, during the war, several families were displaced, forcing hundreds and hundreds of victims to move on. completely alone at a young age, some of the reasons why these young people would join these gangs now were the sheer feeling of neglect and abandonment from family, as well as the normalization of violence in society, so with these gangs had found a sense of security, a sense of hope, perhaps a sense of belonging, all of this would only cost them their free will as they now belonged to those gangs, particularly the 18 and the MS13.

These two gangs are quite similar but their rivalry tells a different story: The 18th Street Gang, also known as Ma 18 or Simply 18 is one of the largest transnational criminal gangs in Los Angeles, with around 30 to 50,000 members between them. United States, Mexico and Central America. They are also allied with the Mexican Mafia, another US-based syndicate, and, according to the FBI, some factions of the 18th. Street gangs have developed a high level of sophistication and organization in the conduct of their business. Members of Calle 18 frequently identify themselves with their uniforms with the number 18 or frequently sport teams such as the Duke Blue Devils or the LA Clippers, among others, in Guatemala City many buses Bus drivers have been murdered by members of 18th Street for driving through its territory.

Bus drivers were often victims of robbery or extortion. In one particular case, a driver refused to pay the gang, so his son was

brutal

ly murdered a few moments later, so the level of violence in 18th Street ends and that of ms3 begins, although they may be rivals. The MS13 is significantly ahead when compared side by side, also known as Mara Salva. 13 The members of the MS13 are direct descendants of the fmln squad that fought in the war in El Salvador. They are typically impoverished young men and teenagers often homeless and separated from their families who would survive by engaging in petty drug dealing, robbery and extortion from street vendors along with some other petty crimes.

From a statistical point of view, El Salvador has the third highest feminicide rate in the world in 2016. one in every 5,000 Salvadoran women was murdered and only 5% of feminicide cases resulted in convictions. I mean if you do the math I'm sure you can say it's a pretty low number, a lot of M Salva members cover themselves with tattoos including their face, some would get tattooed. the words Ms Salva, the devil's horns and the name of her click from head to toe of her; However, by the early 2000s, the gang was moving away from face hats, making it easier to commit crimes without Ms members realizing, as many American gangs would do.

Hand signals for identification or communication purposes, one of the most commonly displayed is the devil's head, which forms an M when shown upside down, and if you like heavy metal this may also look familiar to you, but Here's the part that might really interest you. Their level of cruelty has resulted in some members being recruited by this caloa cartel fighting Lo Zetus in the drug war in Mexico. His wide-ranging activities have drawn the attention of the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who have jointly launched large-scale raids against acquaintances. and suspected gang members arrested hundreds across the United States, but some of that allowed him to be stopped.

No, instead, it only made him stronger. In 2004, the FBI established the National MS-13 Gang Task Force to enhance collaboration between local and state law enforcement agencies with the goal of dismantling MS-13. Its primary strategy would involve deporting gang members to their home countries in Instead of imprisoning them in the US when that approach proved ineffective the FBI began partnerships with law enforcement in El Salvador Honduras Guatemala and Mexico establishing its own offices in these regions To confront the gang at its source, the strategy had a significant success, resulting in a series of arrests and crackdowns in the US and Central America involving more than 6,000 police officers in five countries in the US, 73 suspects were detained and more than 650 members of the MS-13 gang.

They were arrested, but it seemed that the more they were arrested, the more violent they became until a man showed up at K Crackdown. These images released by the government of El Salvador show the transfer of some 2,000 inmates and with their heads shaved in what has been called the The strategy of the country's new Mega Prism president, BK, to end gang violence is based on pre-existing strategies of other Salvadoran presidents, in particular Antonio Saka. In June 2004, President Saka implemented a super manod Dura policy that gave the Salvadoran military the power to conduct patrols of gang-controlled areas and execute random searches for suspected gang members along with the ability to arrest individuals based on their appearance alone.

As a result of this policy, around 4,000 gang members were arrested, resulting in overcrowding in El Salvador's prisons, and by 2012, these gangs sought a truce. In March 2012, the MS13 and 18 gangs established a truce in collaboration with the government. Salvadoran now this truce received criticism because it seemed that the government was strengthening the sovereignty of these gangs but even if that was the case it had a positive impact on At the beginning of 2012 there was an average of 16 murders per day in El Salvador, but by the end of March that number dropped to less than five a day and on April 14, 2012, for the first time in more than three years, there were no murders nationwide.

Around 411 murders were recorded in the month of January 2012, but in March the figure was only 188, which represents a reduction of 50%, which shows that this truce was really effective, but sooner rather than later it came. down and violence once again plagued the streets. In 2015, there were about 60,000. Gang members in El Salvador and 70% of the country's businesses were being extorted, resulting in annual losses of billions of dollars. According to estimates from the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, the homicide rate was at its peak, even higher than during the Civil War if you take the time and do your homework, you may discover that the violence originated in the fighting. 18th century Salvadoran over land ownership and then turned into political violence that involved parties on the left and right and eventually gave rise to the MS13 and 18 street gangs, which we were in a war of racial hierarchy in the US . with African-American gangs, but how exactly did Buel manage to stop this century-old cycle of violence?

We understand that we must first understand who Naib Buel is and the violence that affected his youth born in July. 24, 1981 Na Bukele grew up in El Salvador as a privileged outsider. His father was a Muslim businessman of Palestinian descent who opened the first McDonald's franchise in the country. He ran a textile company, helped build four mosques and even owned a public relations company. He was also a polygamist with six. Abuk's wives, who had three brothers and seven half-siblings, went to a private language school; However, his political apprenticeship began after dropping out of university and managing a nightclub in downtown San Salvador.

He ended up taking over his family's public relations company, whose key client was the fmln and yes, that is the same fmln that participated in the Salvadoran war against the country's armed forces;However, the presidency and assembly were controlled by the Nista Republican Alliance or Arena, which was founded in the early 1980s by a member of a right-wing death squad. The party primarily catered to the business elite, but its members included former military personnel and religious conservatives. In 2009, an accumulation of corruption scandals sank the sand, allowing the FMLM to gain the power it held for the next decade, as Bukele had been in business with him through a couple of connections launched a self-funded bid to become mayor of Nuevo k catlan a municipality in El Salvador won the elections and due to the great impact that the fmln created encouraged him to run for mayor of s Salvador, which he did at that time, the fmln was trying to dirty his political future with its murky past, at which point Bukele was forced to cut it and start a new party, the party that led him to become president on June 1, 2019 naib buuk.

He was elected the 43rd president of El Salvador, became the youngest head of state in Latin America and embodied a new national beginning. His first step in eradicating these gangs was to negotiate a peace treaty as reported by local newspaper Al, but here's the downside. A week after the story was published, Ukel announced that the government would investigate Al for money laundering. I mean, it sounds strange, but since then he has attacked the newspaper relentlessly, sometimes calling journalists by his name, some of them even forced into exile and many others. They have adopted the practice of simply leaving the country after publishing a story and waiting to return until the threats have subsided.

The newspaper has a large international following, but within El Salvador Ell's campaign against it has been successful, many people have come to see Alato as partisan and untrustworthy, and Salvador's National Assembly passed a questionable law. to prevent the media from reporting on gang situations. Journalists could face up to 10 years in prison if they try to reproduce or transmit information. that could have come from gang sources or otherwise could cause panic in the public why Bukele made these laws you ask, ask well, it all comes down to to the bigger plans he had to stop gang violence.

March 2022 The MS13 had massacred 87 people in 3 days, we know. The country has a history of violence, but not this, this was quite unusual in its cruelty. People with no ties to the crime were attacked. A fruit seller. A surf instructor. A housekeeper. A shoemaker. Any. These gangsters chased everyone, but their message was directed at one person. naib buele, who had promised to radically reduce crime and destroy Salvador's image abroad, these gang members left bodies and human remains on the road leading to Surf City, a beachfront real estate property on the Pacific coast that buele had renovated and rebranded to attract international tourists.

The story of this bloody massacre made headlines around the world and brought out Bull's dark side. He began his infamous crackdown by declaring a state of emergency in the country. He would create new policies allowing gang populations to mix in prison, a practice that was never implemented. in an attempt to reduce prison violence, but authorities placed hundreds of bare-chested, underwear-clad prisoners tightly packed into rows and singled them out to send a warning to other gang members there. Elli would use extreme legal measures covert against democracy. by enacting new policies that actually deprive Salvador of basic constitutional rights, such as the right to legal defense and freedom of movement, while relaxing the rules for making arrests and authorizing the state to intercept civilians.

The communications include that arrests can be made without a court order and detainees no longer have the right to an attorney. The government can also access the private communications of all citizens under these draconian laws. Security forces have launched a swift and aggressive assault on gangs detaining members and suspected associates without warrants or solid evidence, significantly speeding up the process by comparison. to previous repressive measures by other presidents to put into context how effective this repression was. El Salvador registered 33,000 arrests in the first months. This is in addition to the fact that the state of emergency has suspended constitutional rights to legal defense, allowing authorities to detain people. indefinitely on vague charges without the need for an arrest warrant or supporting evidence.

Detainees are also denied the right to a court hearing within 72 hours of arrest, and lawyers, including civil society organizations, report being unable to communicate with detainees. Arrests are now often based on unverified data. rumors of intelligence and information coming from unusual places such as social media profiles. Additionally, the Bukel administration has enacted new laws aimed at keeping gang members incarcerated for longer periods. Prison sentences for gang affiliation have been increased and the option of house arrest has been increased for people associated with these gangs. No longer an option, the initiative could be impressive, but how effective was this repression?

According to multiple online sources, neighborhoods in El Salvador that were plagued by these gangs for decades are now free of their strongholds. Few residents reported seeing gang remains in their homes. while some mention the return of active gang members who were released from jail, but say that these gangsters had much less power than before the state of emergency, also before the state of emergency, gang members extorted people who worked for small and medium-sized companies businesses, including street vendor shops. owners, bus operators and taxi drivers in communities under their control, but now all that is a thing of the past.

A bus company owner who previously paid about $6,000 monthly in extortion fees to two main gang factions said he stopped paying immediately after the crackdown on Salvadoran police began. He also reported a 54% reduction in extortion reports between early 2022 and September 2022, but ironically this method, while deeply worrying, has proven to be the most effective crackdown in El Salvador's history. The only question left to answer at this point is: can this kind of bukel repression implemented by other countries plagued by gang violence around the world change

everything

. February 2023 Na Buell ordered the transfer of 2,000 people accused of gang membership to a mega prison recently opened in the country.

This mega prison has the capacity to house a staggering 40,000. The complex is located about 74 km southeast of the capital of S Salvador and is made up of eight buildings each with 32 cells with capacity for more than 100 people each. The disturbing detail here is that each cell has only two sinks and a toilet, prison guards said. hide with balaclavas to avoid becoming targets if these members actually get out and speaking of getting out, many critics believe that subjecting these prisoners to such a level of cruelty would have an impact on El Salvador's economy once they get out, but according to Buchel they will never get out Of the crackdown Bukel has led against organized crime has locked up approximately 75,000 people, meaning at least one in every 45 adults is in prison now other neighborhood leaders are taking note and have discussed adopting many of the same measures. drastic measures to fight their own criminal violence, but even if they wanted to make the same commitment that the Bull government made in making the streets safer with methods that are openly at odds with democracy, they are not likely to succeed under the conditions that allowed Mr.

BK success in political stardom is exclusive to El Salvador and cannot be exported. Why you ask? Well, let me break it down for you a little. The United States, the European Union and the organization of American states have criticized Bukel Zachs as the president that this guy is accused of. threatening members of Congress with troops and firing Supreme Court justices while replacing them with judges who have allowed Bukel to run and win for a second term despite a constitutional ban. Foreign criticism has also allowed Bukel to unify Salvadorans against a common enemy and put him in jeopardy. and his country of six and a half million inhabitants on the map;

Conversely, this small nation is now governed as a police state, soldiers and officers taking citizens off the streets and throwing them into prisons indefinitely without giving them a reason or allowing them access to a lawyer. reports that inmates have been tortured and, in some gruesome cases, murdered in 2022 Madam President of the neighboring country for doubts Miss Jamara Castro declared a war against extortion following in the footsteps of BK now, in her case, homicide rates can may have diminished, but gangs are still powerful if you go further south, Ecuador is reeling from its own explosion of gang violence.

Some citizens say they want a man like Buel to end the violence and come to fix things, and even in Chile historically there is a stronger democracy and a safer country than him. Salvadoran citizens say they want a man like Buele, but pukel imitators and those who believe their model can be replicated in other Latin American countries overlook a key point: the conditions that allowed buk to take down El Salvador's gangs are some that are only special to El salador. You see, their gangs were unique and far from the most formidable criminal organizations in the entire region for decades, only a few gangs fought each other for control of specific territories and when you compare it to the powerful cartels of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil , you start to realize that the El Salvador gangs were not big players in drug trafficking and were more focused on extortion compared to these other groups, they were poorly funded and not as heavily armed.

Another thing to note here is that once Mr. Bukel arrested the top leaders the gangs simply fell apart. I try to put that in another syndicate in Latin America where the criminal organizations are richer, more internationally connected and much better armed than the gangs of El Salvador ever were. Take the cartels in Mexico, for example, the Mexican Drug War, though no. Enforcing strict legal policies like Bukel's resulted in the arrest of hundreds of drug cartels, but because these cartels were so coordinated and well structured, almost nothing changed, they simply defended themselves and, in some cases, new groups Criminals quickly filled the void left. for the huge profits from drug trafficking if you go to Colombia Escobar's war against the State in the 80s and 90s tells a similar story, no matter how hard the Colombian government hit this organization, their reaction was stronger.

El Salvador also had more formidable and professional security forces. he pledged to crush these gangs when Bukel called him, compared to some of his neighbors, consider Honduras, where gang-sponsored corruption among security forces apparently runs deep. This circumstance helped Doom's President Castro's attempts to emulate what Bukel did from the beginning if we return to Mexico. Criminal groups have reportedly managed to co-opt high-ranking members of the military and police. Similarly, in Venezuela there have been reports of military officers running their own drug trafficking operations, so even if the president sends soldiers and police to carry out massive bukel-style raids.

The military may be unprepared or simply incentivized to undermine the task at hand and ultimately Ukel faces very little political opposition considering there are actually no parties opposing his government, in many other Latin American countries there are parties stronger politicians or opposition. existing forces that would help keep an overreaching executive in check, to put it more simply, most governments have never agreed to enforce the types of policies that Bukel pursued, it's just not that constitutional and here's some of what no one is really talking while the The impact of the repression in El Salvador was transformative The gangs are not over, in fact, the government's own data contradicts the Bukel administration's narrative that the gangs were completely defeated in October 2023.

The Ell administration claimed to havearrested 52,541 members of the MS13. 13,683 members of the 18. Surenos neighborhood and 10,741 members of the 18 Revolutionary neighborhood but these figures were exaggerated according to the official records of the Salvadoran police, more than half of these detained under the state of emergency are not full-fledged gang members. Specifically, there were around 32,331 arrests of gang members 41,00 733 arrests of alleged collaborators and 3,435 of people under investigation, while at least 36% of gang members and collaborators of more than 42,000 people remain free, so the buou strategy may work well for others If other countries try to copy what it did, it is more likely to replicate only the Dark Side of El Salvador's model and not its achievements, governments could be consumed in chaos as criminal groups multiply or counterattack with ample power of fire; in the process, they could potentially reduce the space for civil society government transparency and pile up a lot of detentions are facilitated in already overcrowded prisons.

Historically, Latin American presidents who have not been fully committed to democracy have been eager to take some or all of these measures for political gain, so perhaps fighting crime is the perfect excuse for all their success. To reduce crime, the Buel model comes at a high cost, so if these leaders and presidents are willing to take on that cost, it really could change everything.