01 September, 2004 – Although Ignacio will turn 18 years old in only a few months, life has left profound marks on his face. Two scars are reminders of his time on the streets of Ecuador’s capital city of Quito.
After leaving home at the age of 14, he started his own gang called ‘Family Rap’. The gang was made up of 15 young rap enthusiasts. “We were like a real family” says Ignacio.
He not only made good friends in the gang, but also got hooked on drugs. Ignacio and fellow gang-members robbed on the streets, in stores and on buses to come up with drug money. When the money ran out, ‘la Family’ began to carry out armed assaults.
There are an estimated 155 gangs in Quito, according to the Child and Adolescent Police Branch (Policía Especializada en Niños y Adolescentes, Dinapen). Dinapen’s chief, Mary Jiménez, says that gang activity and territory can be mapped out by gang graffiti spray-painted on city walls and testimony from detained gang members.
Gangs and ‘nations’
Dinapen says that well-organised gangs with more than 100 members each include the Los Vatos Locos, Bayardos, Eslimer’s, Latin Kings, and others. These larger gangs are referred to as ‘nations’(naciones), and are believed to have ties that go beyond local neighbourhoods.
“The main difference between gangs and ‘naciones’ is numerical. The gang is made up of up to 20 members and a ‘nacion’ can have as many as 1,500 in one city alone, including ties overseas,” says Mauro Cerbino, professor and researcher on gangs.
In Ecuador, gang crime began to make headlines in the late 1990s, with violent crimes attributed to the Bayardos in Quito and gang activity involving the Latin Kings in Guayaquil, Santo Domingo, Ambato and Esmeraldas.
Police say that in Quito alone there are more than 600 Vatos Locos, with membership now spreading to other cities and towns.
Trans-national
As with the Vatos Locos, los Ñetas, Latin Kings and the Sara Mara Truchas (Los Maras) are also considered ‘trans-national gangs’. They are believed to have followers in various countries in Latin America, Spain and Italy and were founded by Mexican and Central American immigrants to the US in the 1950s.
“The fundamentals in which the ‘nacion’ are based are the same: for example, marginalisation, rejection of racism. They are themes relevant in Mexico, Spain and Italy as well as Ecuador. No one can live without recognition” says Cerbino.
Characteristics
Cerbino says that the gangs are hierarchical organisations, with identity symbols and forms of recruitment. “For example, the Latin Kings only wear yellow and black, and they wear a certain type of necklace.”
The initiation process is kept secret. The majority of young recruits have to show their capacity to be a gang member and their devotion to the ‘nacion’. For example, los Vatos first ask why the potential recruit wants to join. They are then beaten to prove their daring.
“Gang rivalry is evident. In Guayaquil, there are clashes between the Ñetas and the Latin Kings. In Quito, there have also been street fights between these groups,” says Jiménez.
As in other countries where there are youth gangs, gang recruits earn, besides ‘homies’, a set of values and sense of belonging to a group, and the possibility of moving up in the gang. According to Dinapen, the ‘naciones’ are headed by adults as old as 30.
“Society made possible the ‘nacion’...There needs to be an analysis of what can be done so that young people don’t kill and don’t commit crime,” says the gang expert.
Source: El Comercio
