Document #1225960
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
The following information was obtained in a
9 October 1996 telephone interview with a journalist for the New
York Times-owned Video News International who has lived four years
in El Salvador and specializes on Salvadorean street gangs. In 1993
the source received the Dorothy Lang award for her reports on these
gangs.
The source estimated that in El Salvador
there are currently around 450 street gangs in El Salvador
involving 100,000 young people. The two main Salvadorean street
gangs, 18th Street and Mara-Salvatrucha (MS), originated on the
United States west coast. Their members used to live in the slums
of Los Angeles and are the sons of poor Salvadorean immigrants who
left the country during the civil war. The source mentioned that 25
per cent of the Salvadorean population fled the country to live
mainly in California during the war. Most of these gang members,
deported from the US following the 1992 peace accords, have
restarted their gang chapters in El Salvador, thereby creating a
major social problem.
The source mentioned that Salvadorean
street gangs are not as highly organized or involved in violent
criminal activities as is often reported in the media. She reported
that although it is always possible to have hardened members
involved in violent activities, most gang members are young
teenagers from broken families who try to survive by practicing
petty theft. The source mentioned that drug trafficking, car theft
rings and serious criminal activities are not controlled by street
gangs but by professional criminal rings made of former or current
military personnel, large business people and foreign mobsters. The
source added that gang members are often blamed for these
activities but their real control of them is almost non-existent.
However, the source mentioned that gang members can participate as
underlings.
"Some of the gangs will ask for a share of
cocaine sales in their neighborhood similar to a war tax, but the
real drug traffickers are the Mexican drug lords who are using El
Salvador as a passing point for drug shipments from Colombia," she
stated.
The source added that the authorities have
not produced any real statistical reports on the gang problem. The
statistics on criminal activities do not produce a clear picture of
who commits crimes in El Salvador, making difficult to associate
street gangs with specific crimes. The source stated that "El
Salvador has no parole, probation or social services system by
which it is possible to monitor or follow-up on a gang member.
This, combined with the very conservative social attitudes of the
Salvadorean people and their mixed perceptions of the gang
phenomenon, will often drive the teenager right back into the gang
instead of driving him out once and for all."
The source added that "it is important to
keep in mind that the atmosphere of fear in El Salvador makes
people feel threatened, but that does not mean they are the targets
of real threats. That goes for gang members too."
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB 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. Please find below the list of
additional sources consulted in researching this Information
Request.
Reference
Journalist specializing in El Salvador
street gangs, Video News International, New York City. 9 October
1996. Telephone interview.
Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.].
1995-1996.
Central America Report [Guatemala City].
1995-1996.
The Christian Science Monitor [Boston].
1995-1996.
Le Courrier international [Paris].
1995-1996.
Crime and Justice [Chicago].
1995-1996.
DIRB Country Files. El Salvador.
The Economist [London]. 1994-1996.
Latinamerica Press [Lima].
1990-1996.
Latin American Weekly Report [London].
1995-1996.
Latin American Regional Reports: Central
America and Caribbean Report [London]. 1995-1996.
Oral sources.