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Mara 18, gang members piled in prison
Article
Analysis
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Two of El Salvador’s
biggest gangs, Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18 have signed a truce.
·
The two gangs are
huge rivals, with constant turf battles which are the cause of most of the
countries violence.
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Negotiations took place between leaders who
are currently imprisoned and whom have ways of contact with outside gang
members.
·
El Salvador has
one of the world’s highest homicide rates, 66 homicides per every 100,000
inhabitants.
·
Truce was signed
with the hope of reducing violence throughout the nation.
·
12 – 15 killings
take place on average daily.
·
The head army and police chaplain Monsignor Fabio
mediated between gangs however did not have any further involvement with
negotiations.
- The truce is less than a month old however at this time, it appears that the homicide rate is down but without statistical data, it is too early to say for a fact that the numbers are down
Defining the Issue
Complex
Interrelated
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Political
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Social/Cultural
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Economic
|
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·
The head army
and police chaplain mediated the truce however claim to have no involvement
in the negotiations.
·
The government promised
nothing in return for the gangs when signing the truce.
|
·
With the many people
getting caught in the middle between turf wars, people can hopefully feel
somewhat “safe” walking the streets now that a truce has been signed.
·
Many South American
countries are creating anti-gang laws to prevent violence.
|
·
With a hopeful
lowering of violence thus leading to lower crime, the country has the possibility
of attracting more tourism due to its location near the equator and being on
the ocean.
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Controversial
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How did
this issue start?
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How should
it be resolved?
|
|
·
The main issue
here being the high rate of violence and homicides due to two strong rival
gangs at war with each other.
|
·
The issue is in
the process of being solved as the article states.
·
With the truce
being signed between leaders of the gangs, it is a major step.
·
Now the gang
members must stay true to that document and keep their members on the same
page however this is difficult when being in prison.
·
The government
has already put them in less secure prisons which allow them to have further
contact with the outside thus allowing them to hopefully keep the outsiders
on the page as mentioned previously.
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My Opinion
Living here in Canada, I
have not been aware of the violence occurring in El Salvador; it is no one’s
fault other than my own. I am quite shocked at the homicide rates there and I
am also extremely pleased to hear of this truce being signed between these two
top gangs. It is certainly not something you hear of too often. When reading
this article I almost had a sense of “this is too good to be true.” With the
article saying that the government had no involvement in the negotiations but were
aware of the talks occurring between the gangs, you can’t help but also wonder
if there was some sort of bribe going on too. Again that would be my opinion,
not necessarily true.
In order for this truce to really make an impact on
the country and the world in terms of media coverage, at least a year’s worth
of statistical data would have to be shared with the world showing a clear
decline in the number of homicides. Without those stats, everybody including me
would look the other way and think “what a joke.” It is like they always say, “actions
are stronger than words.” In this case that line could not be more true.
