The congressional research service discusses gangs in central america pdf and the u. However, there are different types of central american gangs and thus one has to distinguish between pandillas and maras. Gangs from central america and mexico, which emphasized diplomacy. Central america, the systematic use of violence and the brutality shown by the new type of. The major gangs operating in central america with ties to the. Gang violence and security in central america thomas bruneau, lucia.
The maras and national security in central america strategic insights, volume iv, issue 5 may 2005 by thomas c. One of the deadliest gangs in central america, the maras, come face to face with citizen militia in this doc. Central americas northern triangle has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for women, a phenomenon that has risen in tandem with the regions growing importance to drug trafficking. Also see crs report r41731, central america regional security initiative. National security implications of gang activity south of the border. Making sense of central american maras gang research. One reason the gang problem in central america is so difficult to. Sensational headlines have publicized the drug trafficking, brutal violence, and other organized crime elements associated with central americas mara gangs, but there have been few cleareyed analyses of the history, hierarchies, and future of the mara phenomenon.
The best known maras are mara salvatrucha and their rivals calle 18. The first book to look specifically at the central american gang problem by drawing on the perspectives of the first book to look specifically at the central american gang problem by drawing on the perspectives of researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds, maras. In spite of central americas rich history, culture and traditions, international news from the region frequently tells of violence. Rodgers, muggah, and stevenson gangs of central america iii.
The first book to look specifically at the central american gang problem by drawing on the perspectives of researchers from. Some youth were from families who fled chicagos gang violence, but most were local youth, struggling to make meaning in their lives and mesmerized. The wall street journal looks at the spread of gang violence in the. How the worlds most notorious gang defies logic, resists destruction, 2018. Project muse promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Gang violence and security in central america request pdf. Gangs in honduras usaid insight crime november 2015. The groups transnational activities across north and central america offer a further point of distinction. Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, project muse is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves. Violence was generally limited to gang rivalry, along with some petty crime in public. The maras brutal drug trafficking, aided by corrupt police turning the other cheek.
Maras, security and development in central america task force. The assessment of the media by mara and gang members. Maras and national security in central america open pdf 249 kb the level of attention directed at the maras, pandillas, or gangs, in central america and the united states, is increasing rapidly. This relationship, however, is generally misunderstood.
On one side, the partnership is portrayed as a literal merger of ms and zetasan obvious exaggeration of the situation. Central americas turbulent northern triangle council on. God and gangs in central america oxford and new york. Gangs, urban violence, and security interventions in central america article pdf available in security dialogue 4045 september 2009 with 528 reads how we measure reads. This report describes the gang problem in central america, discusses country approaches to deal with the gangs, and analyzes u. A common image of central america in the popular media, both within the region and.
Sensational headlines have publicized the drug trafficking, brutal violence, and other organized crime elements associated with central americasmaragangs, but there have been few cleareyed analyses of the history, hierarchies, and future of themaraphenomenon. The origins of southern california latino gangs al valdez chapter 2. Maras in central america national security implications of gang activity south of the border. The first book to look specifically at the central american gang problem by drawing on the perspectives of. Notorious gang defies logic, resists destruction, 2018. Many femicides targeted murders of women are attributed to gangs.
Sensational headlines have publicized the drug trafficking, brutal violence, and other organized crime elements associated with central americas mara gangs. Gang violence, public health, and security in honduras. Seeking asylum from gangbased violence in central america. Reviewing human insecurity and the prospects for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration, by robert muggah, october 2005, updated, isbn 2828800660 15 silencing guns. Skinner free pdf d0wnl0ad, audio books, books to read, good books to read.
Gang violence and security in central america sensational headlines have publicized the drug trafficking, brutal violence, and other organized crime elements associated with. Background and policy issues for congress, by peter j. Gang violence, gender, and the role of education for. In thomas bruneaus introduction, maras are distinguished from local street gangs or pandillas, in their hierarchal organizations and extensive use of violence, both physical and sexual. Ultimately, a more nuanced picture of mara salvatrucha can inform the search for more effective gang policies. Local perspectives on small arms and armed violence in rural. Emotional satisfaction gaining status, respect and a strong sense of collective identity has always been integral to the attractions of gang life, and has. Impelled largely by central american gangsuppression policies, ms has evolved from a traditional street gang into a group with organized crime characteristics, but it remains a social phenomenon rooted in urban marginality. Lastly, the hardline approach was not designed to contain gang activity in the long run. Acknowledgments introduction thomas bruneau part i. In the past few years, policymakers throughout central america and the united states have been grappling with how to confront the problem of violent transnational youth gangs or maras. The most obvious linkage between public health and gang violence is in the direct acts of violence committed by gangs. Gangs in central america congressional research service summary the mara salvatrucha ms and its main rival, the 18th street gang, continue to undermine citizen security and subvert government authority in parts of central america.
Gang violence and security in central america by thomas. Gang violence and security in central america, eds. These cartels are more powerful with money, firepower and political contacts in comparion to the maras, described as the mafia of the poor. As authorities began to transfer gang members back to maximumsecurity prisons, violence soared once more, dashing initial hopes for peace. Demilitarization and the empowerment of civil society. Most of the empirical research on central american street gangs, called maras, has been published only in spanish. The gang violence in central america is distinct from the experience of mexico, colombia and brazil, where the big drug cartels are responsible for much of the crimes. Gangs, urban violence, and security interventions in. The construction of the maras bibliography graduate institute. The transformation of maras from immigrant support networks in big u. Maras were hunted by death squads including sombra negra. Central american gangs, known as maras in central american and mexican spanish, are a. Maras and gangs, community and police in central america sida.
Reviewing that literature, the american scholarship on gangs, and my own research on central american gangs from the mid1990s, this article depicts the processes through which the maras mara salvatrucha and the eighteenth street gang evolved from youth street gangs. Gangs in central america the major gangs operating in central america with ties to the united states are the 18th street gang also known as m18, and their main rival, the mara salvatrucha ms. Pdf gangs, urban violence, and security interventions in. Gang violence and security in central america austin, tx. But it is extortion that forms the maras criminal life blood and their. Sensational headlines have publicized the drug trafficking, brutal violence, and other organized crime elements associated with central america s mara gangs, but there have been few cleareyed analyses of the history, hierarchies, and future of the mara phenomenon.
Ms and mara 18 mara salvatrucha ms is considered to be the fastest growing, most violent, and least understood streetgang in the united states, if not the world. The strategic nature of conflict and violence, in addition to the definition of insurgent, is in a state of rapid change in both the defense and intelligence community. Gang violence and security in central america provides muchneeded insight. The project has an international staff with expertise in security. Differentiating between pandillas and maras youth gangs have existed since the 1960s and 1970s in central america. Bruneau strategic insights is a monthly electronic journal produced by the center for contemporary conflict at the naval postgraduate school in monterey, california. The first book to look specifically at the central american gang problem by drawing on the perspectives of researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds, maras. Youth gangs in central america issues in human rights, effective policing, and prevention di. Almost all maras display tattoos on their bodies as a sign of their affiliation to their gang. Most people, whether they have ever encountered an actual gang member or not, will describe a guntoting, tattooed criminal.
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