El Salvador’s Controversial Gang Truce Has Consequences

Skyrocketing murder rates in El Salvador led the country to surpass Honduras as the deadliest country in the Western Hemisphere. Yesterday, the General Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of 21 people involved in the 2012 controversial gang truce that crumbled in 2014.
In 2012, rival leaders of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 were brought together to stop acts of violence– the first part of a controversial peace process that unfortunately never moved beyond the initial phase. Without financial assistance, the government was prevented from making improvements to overcrowded prisons and creating programs to help released cons re-integrate into the community (4). In exchange for the ceasefire in homicides, incarcerated gang members were transferred from maximum-security prisons to jails closer to their families (6). As a result, the murder rate fell by half, but some hesitate to uphold the claim that violence declined as much as the government claims. Although homicides fell, disappearances increased. The truce collapsed in 2014. By 2015, El Salvador was swarmed with reinvigorated violence with a 70% rise in violence deaths making it the bloodiest year since the country’s civil war (2).
The election of former leftist guerilla President Salvador Sanchez Ceren in 2014 imposed an aggressive stance against gangs (6). On March 25, 2016, MS-13 and 2 factions of Barrio 18 announced a cease-fire to their street war against each other and the government, claiming that they are uniting to stop the violence assaulting their country (5). Both government and gangs are claiming responsibility for the recent decreases in violence. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the government efforts would have such a dramatic and quick effect – the Special Forces unit that one government official listed as cause for the government’s supposed success in curbing gang violence was only deployed last month. On April 18, gang leaders of the recent ceasefire attributed the fall in homicides to their truce, claiming it proved the gangs are “men of their word” (1).
Although the arrests of those involved in the gang negotiations have been applauded by the public majority who blame the gangs for the violence that has earned their country one of the most deadliest reputations, some experts are warning that politically motivated arrests may lead to dire consequences (2). Many of the senior negotiations have not been detained, whereas half of those arrested held low-level administrative roles, including psychologists, teachers, senior police officers and prison wardens.

1. http://qcostarica.com/government-and-gangs-claim-credit-for-sharp-drop-in-el-salvador-murders/
2. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/04/el-salvador-arrests-negotiators-gang-truce
3. http://latindispatch.com/2016/05/04/21578/
4. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/04/el-salvador-violence-deaths-murder-2015 (2)
5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/el-salvadors-gangs-call-a-cease-fire-but-many-doubt-it-will-hold/2016/04/02/79222748-f5c2-11e5-958d-d038dac6e718_story.html
6. http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-el-salvador-gangs-20150418-story.html

FRANCISCO RAFAEL ARELLANO FELIX KILLED IN CABO

Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix. Photo

10/19/13 — Press reports and officials announced the death of Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, the eldest brother of the nine siblings that make up the leadership of the Tijuana Cartel, also known as the Arellano Felix Organization (AFO).Borderland Beat reports that the killing occurred at around 8pm Friday, October 18 at a child’s birthday party that took place in a beachside cabana of the Hotel Marbella, a luxury resort located just east of El Tule, a popular surf spot between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. According to the same report, the musical group “Los Toritos” was performing at the event, the party was attended by Sinaloan sports figures (including soccer star Jared Borghetti and boxer Omar Chavez), and there were as many as 100 guests in attendance.

Map of Los Cabos Resorts. Photo: loscabosguide.com.

Most accounts indicate that there was a lone assailant and some say that the subject was shot by a man dressed in a clown suit with a red clown nose. The man reportedly entered the party suddenly and shot the subject once in the head and twice in the chest, fleeing the scene immediately after. The Associated Press (AP) reported that a crime scene photo showed the subject’s body lying on a tile floor and covered by a bloody sheet. The Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la Justicia, PGR) indicated that one of the Grancisco Rafael’s sons identified the body. Federal, state, and local officials responded to the incident and are continuing to investigate.

http://justiceinmexico.org/2013/10/19/francisco-rafael-arellano-felix-killed-in-cabo/

Brazilian trafficker crushed by 500kg of pot—Mail Online

A Brazilian drug trafficker was killed by his own stock when he was crushed by half a ton of marijuana. The man died after he lost control of his car and hit a tree, resulting in his stock of weed stored in the backseat shooting forward, squashing him against the wheel. The driver was on the run from the Federal Highway police, who had taken up the chase after the smuggler refused to stop at a road block in Bataguassu, 210 miles from Campo Grande. The man was on his way from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul to Sao Paulo with 500kg of marijuana when he was asked to stop by police. In an attempt to escape, he embarked on a three-mile chase which ended against the tree where the man died instantly, Brazilian police said. Read more here.

Mexico captures third suspect in murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry

Justice in Mexico

09/24/13 (written by gehrenberg) – Mexican authorities have announced the capture of a third suspect in the 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, who was killed in a shootout miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. Police in the Northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa said that Iván Soto Barraza was captured in a joint operation between State Ministerial Police (Policía Ministerial del Estado, PME) and Interpol; a government spokesperson also reported that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) collaborated in the arrest. Soto Barraza was captured in Sinaloa at 11:00pm on September 11 on the road connecting the city of El Fuerte with the community of Ocolome. He was then transferred to a prison in Hermosillo, Sonora, where he awaits extradition to the United States. Soto Barraza is the third of allegedly five suspects that authorities believe were involved in Terry’s killing. One of…

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Venezuela Arrests 3 in Air France Cocaine Haul—WSJ

Venezuelan authorities arrested 3 members of the National Guard for their alleged involvement in the smuggling of nearly 3,050 pounds of cocaine to Paris earlier this month, the South American country’s Attorney General’s office said late Sunday. The Venezuelan officers join 6 other people nabbed in France—3 Italians and 3 U.K. nationals—allegedly tied to a drug ring… French authorities uncovered the shipment at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport after it was brought over on a commercial Air France flight that departed from Caracas on Sept. 10, Venezuelan officials said. The French Interior Ministry said the cocaine catch is the nation’s largest ever with a street value estimated at $270 million, once the drug is cut and packaged for retail sale. The drug was due to supply… the entire European market. Read more here.

Mexico pursues freed drug lord Caro Quintero—CNN

(09-05-13) Less than a week after drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero was released from prison because of procedural errors, the Mexican government wants him locked up. The office of the Mexican attorney general late Wednesday said that it has issued a warrant for “provisional detention,” acting on a request from the United States. A Mexican judge signed off on the request. Once Caro Quintero is detained, the office said, the United States will have 60 days to formally request his extradition. Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam earlier said his office would review the decision of a Mexican appeals court to release the trafficker. Caro Quintero had served 28 years when he was freed Friday because he was tried in the federal system, when his crimes should have been dealt with at the state level. Read more.

Egypt minister warns of terrorism after assassination attempt-Reuters

(09-05-13) The Egyptian interior minister survived an assassination attempt unscathed on Thursday when a car bomb blew up his convoy and he said afterwards that a wave of terrorism by opponents of the military-installed government was just beginning. The minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, had been involved in overseeing a violent crackdown on supporters of Mohamed Mursi, the elected Islamist president who was overthrown two months ago by the army following mass protests against his rule. Read more.