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

Corruption and Unrest in Coahuila

Following the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa last year, an event which sparked international media attention, Al-Jazeera staff member Ignacio Alvarado Alvarez began a three part investigation to address other massacres and disappearances that have escaped media attention. These disappearances take place in the northern region of Coahuila, an area near the US-Mexican border known for its violence. To date, there have been between 1,808 – 8,000 disappearances in Coahuila since 2009.

The first part of the series examines police and local government involvement with these disappearances. While protesters over the 43 students were outraged that the former mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, allegedly ordered the police to abduct the students and turn them over to local drug cartels, this is not an uncommon practice. In Coahuila, up to 300 people have been disappeared by the drug cartels –namely the Zetas- in coordination with local police. In May 2012, 20 year-old Jose Wilibardo was kidnapped from his home by gunmen who were guarded by local police officials. He has not been found. The coordination of police ineffectiveness, and at times, involvement, creates a vacuum of fear in which the public cannot escape. Because people fear for their lives, investigations into these disappearances have come too little too late.

Additionally, the northern region of Mexico has the world’s fourth-largest reserves of shale gas and 95% of Mexico’s coal. Due to this economic incentive, recent studies have linked the regional violence to economic interest. In order to promote this economic interest, cartels have been working systematically with “authorities and law enforcement.” The violence has forced many people off land rich in natural resources under the guise of turf wars among cartels. The economic incentives address issues of corruption in an area where, according to former prosecutor Ariana Garcia Bosque, “violence in the state is controlled” and “a highly effective police force” protects not the people, but organized crime.

Works Cited:

Alvarez, Ignacio Alvarado. “Terror in Coahuila: Gas reserves beneath turf war in northern Mexico?” Al-Jazeera America, Al-Jazeera, 10 March 2015. Web. 10 March 2015. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/10/gas-and-coal-behind-violence-northern-mexico.html

Alvarez, Ignacio Alvarado. “Terror in Coahuila: Up to 300 disappeared in Mexico’s forgotten massacre.” Al-Jazeera America, Al-Jazeera, 9 March 2015. Web. 9 March 2015. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/9/hundreds-disappeared-in-allende-massacre-in-mexico.html

“Charges Filed Against Mayor in Kidnapping of 43 Students in Mexico,” Al-Jazeera America, Al-Jazeera, 14 January 2015. Web. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/14/mexico-students.html  

Payan, Tony and Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera. ” Energy Reform and Security in Northeastern Mexico.” Issue Brief, Rice University’s Baker Institute. 6 May 2014. Web. 10 March 2015. https://bakerinstitute.org/media/files/files/21e1a8c8/BI-Brief-050614-Mexico_EnergySecurity.pdf

Piven, Ben and Nikhil Swaminathan. “Protests over missing students spread in Mexico.” Al-Jazeera America, Al-Jazeera, September 2014. Web. 10 March 2015 http://america.aljazeera.com/multimedia/timeline/2014/11/mexico-protests-.html

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.

World’s smallest pony kidnapped—Mail Online

He was due to perform at the show with his owner but ‘equestrian artist’ Bartolo Messina was forced to alert police when he found the pony’s stall empty. Police are investigating the theory that the mafia may be involved and believe the thieves could be holding the pony for ransom. The tiny show-pony was in the central Italian town for the 47th edition of the National Horse Fair. Police said that the horse thieves snipped a wire fence surrounding the fairgrounds, grabbed the miniature pony and made off through a nearby tobacco field where a car was waiting to speed them away.  A spokesman for the Carabinieri in Citta di Castello said: ‘Investigations are continuing. We are not excluding any possibilities including that the perpetrators are part of a criminal organisation.’  Read more here.

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.