Over the last decades, citizens and many other scholars, as well as the government, have expressed concerns over the ever-rising rates of violent crimes that are known to be committed by criminal groups, drug traffickers within the U.S. and Central America. The gang group Mara Salvatrucha, popularly known as the MS-13, have been claimed to pose the biggest threat to the security of the region, both national and regional ( Wolf, 2012 ). The recent rapid growth and expansion of the gang have raised major concerns on how to deal with such a dangerous criminal group. Having been responsible for the majority of the crimes in the region, the gang is a major threat to the citizen’s welfare as well as the security of the state all the way from the suburbs of Washington D.C. to the Central American slums as it engages in conflict with the government and other gang groups to claim more territories.
Mara Salvatrucha is present in every coast which plagues many cities and societies across the United States. The gang has been able to claim the territory of more than forty-two states, posing a serious security threat. Currently, Mara Salvatrucha claims to have over 10000 members in the United States and an estimated number of about 70000 from Latin America and across the entire American continent ( Wolf, 2012 ). Since the eruption of this gang, massive violence has been witnessed as the gang tries to assert dominance in more than half of the El Salvador territory. In a rivalry to gain more dominance with other gangs such as Barrio 18, an intense conflict has also been witnessed between the gangs. They engage in the web of drug trafficking, extortions, and kidnapping in many parts of the regions which they have acquired and maintained dominance.
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Since the 2014 failed truce in El Salvador, the insecurity has worsened in the region leading to the declaring of El Salvador as the most dangerous place. The impacts of this gang on the society cannot be ignored. On daily basis bus drivers, sellers and other business people are killed when they are unable to pay the extortion fees to the gang. Many economists have estimated that an amount up to $756 million, which amounts to 3% of the El Salvador GDP is paid annually to the gang. Many of the low-income individuals continue to suffer as they are forced to pay huge extortion fees to the gang while at the same time losing their freedom of movement. The gang has been benefiting from such fees that they collect from the citizens to fund their activities.
Even as the violence continues to embroil the country, the major point of concern has been to know what caused the emergence and the rapid rise of the gang. However, several factors have been linked to the emergence and rapid rise of the criminal gang. Having been reported to engage in conflict with the rival gang groups in control of the territory and extortion fees, social exclusion of the gang members, poorly targeted policies as well as low income and inequality have been associated with the cause of the rising gang group. The recent policies developed by the United States and El Salvador and the overall demonization of the gang have only served to increase the gang activities and more bloodshed ( Dudley & Pachico, 2013 ). These policies have seemed to cause more conflict between the governments and the gang group. While a bitter rivalry between the gangs continues to make many citizens lose their lives, the repressive policies adopted by El Salvador and the zero-tolerance policies of the United States have failed to yield any fruits as they don’t seem to address why youths join criminal gangs. The high levels of inequality, poverty, social exclusion and tough economic times have seemed to create a cool surrounding that supports gang membership. Many youths from El Salvador who grew up the US were deported, and on arrival, they find themselves socially excluded and feel like they don’t belong to any country. As a result, the youths would seek mutual respect, friendship and social inclusion in the gang.
The youths also saw an opportunity for economic benefit in a society where employment was very low. Other than the common positions, the gang group employed accountants, doctors, and lawyers to enhance their operations ( Pérez, 2013 ). Such professionals were paid using the extortion fees collected from the poor locals. In the event of the consistent rights violations and marginalization from the society, the youths had no option but to join the gang. As a result, people and especially the youths preferred to join the gang group because of perceived economic benefits. Despite the currently witnessed decrease in the homicides, extortion has continued to exist as the gang seeks to obtain funds from the locals to fund their activities. Incidences of disappearances have also continued to be reported as well as the discovery of the mass graves, an indication of the continued violence and conflict from the MS-13.
The conflict between the gang and other gang rivals as well as the government have intensified in the last few years. While every gang struggles to control more territories, conflict arises between two or more gangs with the same mission. Similarly, due to their activities being declared as criminals, the gang has had many conflicts with the government which has tried to come up with means to destroy such a criminal gang. However, reports show that the methods employed by the government in dealing with the gang have only benefited the criminal gang and led to its expansion over the last few years. Unless appropriate measures are used to combat the gang group, it is expected that the expansion of this group will continue as they extort more fees from poor citizens.
References
Dudley, S., & Pachico, E. (2013). El Salvador’s Gang Truce: Positives and Negatives. Sight Crime , 18 .
Pérez, O. J. (2013). Gang violence and insecurity in contemporary Central America. Bulletin of Latin American Research , 32 (s1), 217-234.
Wolf, S. (2012). Mara Salvatrucha: the most dangerous street gang in the Americas?. Latin American Politics and Society , 54 (1), 65-99.
