El Salvador: Information on the activities and places of operation of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, and on measures taken by the Salvadorean government to control gangs

The information in this Response to Information Request adds to that provided in Responses SLV26914.F of 11 July 1997, SLV23519.E of 20 March 1996 and SLV25224.E of 11 October 1996, which deal with the Mara Salvatrucha (MS) and Salvadorean gangs, and SLV26543.E of 17 April 1997 which discusses government measures to control criminal activity.

The Mara Salvatrucha is an international criminal organization originating in Los Angeles, and currently expanding throughout Central and North America. One publication which specializes in crime issues describes "Hispanic" gangs originating in Los Angeles as "second generation street gangs" that "are becoming increasingly mobile and sophisticated" and "tactically employ quasi-terrorism" (Crime & Justice International Nov. 1997, 32).  Crime & Justice International cites "internationalization" as a new factor in gang evolution, and adds that "in this case, Los Angeles and San Diego gangs are at the leading edge," with Los Angeles gangs now operating across borders in Mexico, Nicaragua, Belize and El Salvador (ibid., 33). It states that "El Salvador is becoming an outpost of L.A. street gangs including Mara Salvatrucha" and others, which are merging with local maras (gangs), and adds that "in addition they are becoming more lethal because of their access to assault rifles, handgrenades, anti-tank missiles and former soldiers with combat experience" (ibid.).

In El Salvador, the MS and the "18th Street" gang have clashed "utilizing AK-47s and hand grenades" (ibid.). However, in April 1996 the two gangs "signed a peace accord" in a suburb of San Salvador, "ending four years of vicious street warfare" (Reuters 9 Apr. 1996). A New York Times report states that the gangs' criminal activities include drug and gun smuggling and the smuggling of people into the United States (Migration News Sept. 1997), while another source states that Los Angeles gangs apparently are involved "in the trafficking of stolen vehicles south from the U.S. and the trafficking of weapons northwards" (Crime & Justice International Nov. 1997, 32).

A New York Times article attributes the branching of U.S. gangs in El Salvador to the U.S. immigration procedure that "requires the deportation, at the end of their prison sentences, of those immigrants, legal or illegal, who have been convicted of any of a broad range of felonies, from murder to drug possession" (9 Aug. 1997). The report states that these deported members of  U.S. gangs "bring with them a deadly rivalry that dates back to their founding in Los Angeles," adding that "when not trying to kill each other, their members rob travellers, rape women, steal cars, deal in drugs and extort money from businesses" (ibid.).

The same article states that "throughout the country [El Salvador], thousands of young men, recruited and led by deportees who learned their trade on the streets of U.S. cities, have been joining the gangs, which officials blame for much of a marked postwar increase in violence and criminality" (ibid.). Finally, the report states that "many of the most violent offences, like murder, kidnapping and robbery, are committed by people who have been in the United States and are sent back " to El Salvador (ibid.).

According to one article, "most of the more than 50 gangs [in El Salvador] were founded by returning Salvadorans," where they found "a ready source of manpower—and weapons—in demobilized, often demoralized soldiers and other disillusioned youth" (International Herald Tribune 30 Aug. 1995). From August 1994 to June 1995, 233 Salvadorean ex-convicts were deported from the United States (ibid.).

The same source states that

once the American-style gangs began to spread here, criminal networks in Mexico, Colombia and elsewhere involved in trafficking drugs and stolen property across inter-American borders quickly took advantage of their skills and connections (ibid.).

The article quotes the head of the Salvadorean police as saying that "the mafia organizations that steal cars, move narcotics and traffic in children are using the gangs for these activities now," adding that "they are paid to be the muscle for operations, they are organized, and we have no structures to combat them" (ibid.). The police chief is also quoted as saying that "because most of them are underage, we can't hold the ones we catch for more than six hours" (ibid.). The article also states that the gangs are used by Mexican organizations as a source of "hit men," and that they have "ties to corrupt active and retired military officers who supply them with arsenals of weapons" (ibid.).

According to one report, Salvadoran police officials "claim the street gangs and other juveniles...commit about 60 percent of El Salvador's crimes" (Miami Herald 4 Aug. 1997). The same report quotes a member of the MS as stating that the gangs are "capable of appalling brutality" and that in El Salvador they "are much worse than they were in Los Angeles" (ibid.). According to the article's source, El Salvador had gangs before the arrival of the U.S. gangsters "but they just did little things," and when the U.S. gangsters arrived in El Salvador, "the kids saw [them] as the prototype of what street gangs should be" (ibid.).

Another report states that "authorities estimate that the country [El Salvador] has about 10,000 gang members, most of them transplants from two imported gangs: 18th Street Gang and Mara Salvatrucha, which evolved in hardened Southern California neighbourhoods" (Dallas Morning News 16 Feb. 1997). The document adds that "the surge of gang membership in El Salvador has led to conflict with homegrown gangs" (ibid.). An article referring to the two gangs states that "hundreds of young former fighters from both sides [of the political armed conflict] joined gangs after the war, sowing terror on the streets of the capital and in provincial towns" (Reuters 9 Apr. 1996).

Guatemalan news articles state that members of the Mara Salvatrucha have been committing crimes in Guatemala. One document states that the group, known among juvenile delinquents as ST, has branches throughout Guatemala, committing crimes that range from physical assaults to drug trafficking (La Hora 4 May 1997). For example, police captured three members of the group selling cocaine in two different parts of the capital (ibid.) and two other members after they robbed and shot a person in San Juan Sacatepequez (ibid. 3 Feb. 1997).

A more extensive search of Central American media to illustrate other areas of MS activity could not be carried out within the time constraints of this Response to Information Request.

The government of El Salvador has been attempting to increase public safety in the face of rising violent crime. Through its National Civilian Police, it has expanded patrolling throughout the country, initiated education and outreach programs, and established small outposts (casetas, or huts) in parks and other public places in what a publication of the Jesuit Universidad Centro Americana (UCA) describes as a very successful program (Proceso 19 Nov. 1997).

In October 1997, after a surge in violent incidents the previous months attributed by police to organized gangs, it was reported that the Minister of Public Safety intended to open 230 new police posts in rural areas (LARR: Caribbean & Central America Report 28 Oct. 1997). The Salvadorean government has also engaged in the improvement of inter-institutional coordination (Central America Report 20 Nov. 1997, 8), legal reforms and the creation of new Sentencing Tribunals to better deal with the problems in the legal system (El Diario de Hoy 11 Jan. 1998). In late 1997 the judicial system of El Salvador was described by one report as inadequate, allowing "many criminals to work with impunity, although the situation has improved over the years" (The Washington Post 1 Oct. 1997). The same report states that the national police force "remains outnumbered and outgunned by criminals," pointing out that 71 officers were killed in the line of duty in 1996 and 40 had been killed by October 1997 (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 20 November 1997. "El Salvador: Police Improvements Planned."

Crime & Justice International [Chicago]. November 1997. John P. Sullivan. "Third Generation Street Gangs: Turf, Cartels and NetWarriors."

Dallas Morning News. 16 February 1997. Anna Cearley. "Churches Are Reaching Out To Salvadoran Gang Members." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 3-16 Feb. 1997, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 4-6)

El Diario de Hoy [San Salvador]. 11 January 1998. Gabriel Trillos. "Transitional Criminal Laws Prepared." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 5-18 Jan. 1998, Vol. 12, No. 25, p. 5)

International Herald Tribune [Paris]. 30 August 1995. Douglas Farah. "Youth Gangs Without Borders: an International Threat; Central American Crisis/Criminals Capitalize on Free Trade." (NEXIS)

La Hora [Guatemala City]. 4 May 1997. "Los 'Salvatruchas' estan ahora involucrados en el narcotrafico." [Internet] [Accessed 2 Feb. 1998]

_____. 3 Feb. 1997. "Tres delincuentes se salvan de ser linchados." [Internet] [Accessed 2 Feb. 1998]

Latin American Regional Reports (LARR): Caribbean & Central America [London]. 28 October 1997. "Random Killings Spread Alarm; Government Promises More Police in Rural Areas." (NEXIS)

Miami Herald. 4 August 1997. Glenn Garvin. "Civil War Not Over, But Violence Goes On." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 4-17 Aug. 1997. Vol. 12, No. 14, pp. 3-4)

Migration News [Davis, Calif.]. September 1997. North America: Central Americans, Criminals." [Internet] [Accessed 2 Feb. 1997]

The New York Times. 9 August 1997. Larry Rother. "Deportees From the U.S. Unwelcome in El Salvador." [Internet] [Accessed 2 Feb. 1997]

Proceso [San Salvador]. 19 November 1997. "La preservacion de la seguridad publica." [Internet] [Accessed 2 Feb. 1998]

Reuters. 9 April 1996. BC Cycle. "Salvador's Biggest Street Gangs Sign Peace Pact." (NEXIS)

The Washington Post. 1 October 1997. Serge F. Kovaleski. "Murders Soar in El Salvador Since Devastating War's End; Some Jobless Ex-Combatants Turn to Life of Crime." (NEXIS)