“We want to get out of this deep abyss that violence has pushed us into”
Carola Mittrany
September 26, 2003 - Social researcher from the University Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas in El Salvador, Marlon Carranza is carrying out the third phase of the regional study "Maras and Gangs in Central America: Experiences in Public Policy and Rehabilitation" and is also a researcher for the COAV Project. Like everyone that live in El Salvador, Carranza says that he feels personally affected by violence: "No one escapes from the general feeling of insecurity." In his own words, his work contributes to breaking a vicious cycle of death and putting an end to the myth of Sisyphus. "We want to get out of the deep abyss that violence has pushed us into, and the fatalism that surrounds us."
COAV – What is the overall situation of youth in El Salvador?
MC - El Salvador has the highest masculine unemployment rate for Central America (not including Panama) for the year 2000, 15.2%, and the highest employment rate in the underground economy, which is 42.8% for this year. At the same time, the country invests less in the social sector (education, housing, etc.) in relation to total public spending than other Central American countries (only 27%). El Salvador also has the highest population density in the region. In the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, there are municipalities with up to 18,700 inhabitants per square kilometre.
COAV – How did the gangs start?
MC – The gangs began due to a number of factors that have to do with the long history of violence in the country, even before the civil war.
COAV – What do you think of the supposed ties between the Central American gangs and those in the US?
MC – Several studies have shown that the influence of US gangs on Salvadoran gangs is not a determining factor. In the research "Solidarity and violence in gangs in greater San Salvador," only 16.3% of a total group of 1,025 gang members said that they had been in the US and only 15.5% said that they maintained contact with gang members in the US.
COAV – Then how do you explain the names and codes of conduct that are shared by gangs in the US and Central America?
MC – The study says that "the way that gangs conduct themselves is a hybrid product of the legacy of migration (between the US and El Salvador) and the particular conditions found in the US." The symbols, slang, gang names and gang member nicknames may be the same as in Los Angeles, but the motivations, the way of carrying out violence, and the way of life within the group are different.
COAV – What motivates a young person to join the gang?
MC – The proliferation of weapons is a common factor, as is the sensation that a lot of what motivates these young people is a desire for "power and control" and to "stand out," and not just for economic reasons. Without a doubt, money is a factor, and the group’s participation provides economic benefits to youth, including such luxury goods as brand name clothes and tennis shoes that they would not otherwise have access to. And it is also easier to get drugs. But purely economic reasons don’t explain why the youth enter into a gang to get those goods, given that they could organise themselves in other ways.
Then what are the reasons for joining?
MC – A lot of what helped us to understand the motivations for joining was our analysis of the reasons that gang members themselves gave in the study "Barrio Adentro" (Within the Neighbourhood), carried out in 2000. The most common motivation was vacilando (for fun) (40%) followed by family problems (21%) and friends (20%).
The word vacil means "for fun" and sums up all the benefits of being a gang member, which can be summed up in two words: respect and power, related to the fear imposed on others. Only by understanding the combination of these benefits (economic, access to drugs and alcohol, social visibility and an ideology that justifies their actions) will we be able to understand the reasons for joining a gang.
COAV - What is the typical profile of a mara gang member?
MC – A typical gang member is one who feels he has a poor relationship with his family, in part because the family has been partially responsible for their exposure to violence. They are not illiterate; they have an average of 8 years of schooling. They are armed, of every 10-gang members, 7 carry weapons. If they are men, it is a gun, and if they are women, a light weapon (such as a knife). They take a lot of drugs often, at times combining them. Three out of four do not study and three out of four have been in prison.
COAV - Who are the main aggressors of gang members?
MC – The main aggressors are gang members themselves: Out of every 10, 5 have been attacked by other gang members, 3 by the police and 1 by someone else.
COAV – What do you think of the Ant Maras Law?
MC – The Anti Maras Law stresses incarceration. It says that "Whomever is a member of a mara or gang that targets or threatens in any manner persons, neighbourhoods or colonias will be imprisoned from two to five years." Therefore, demanding money, making show of gang tattoos, or imposing a gang "tax" would be subject to two to five years imprisonment. Other acts such as creating a public scandal, making threats, public exhibitions, or grafitying would be subject to arrest and imprisonment of between 30 and 90 days.
COAV – And the general jail situation?
MC – El Salvador has the worst jail conditions in the region (according to the 2003 Human Development Report for Central America and Panama).
COAV – What about projects that seek alternatives for youth at risk?
MC – There are some attempts to offer alternatives to gang members, but they are few and most are from the private sector or civil society. A well-known project that I have heard is successful is the "Don Bosco" project, a project of the Salesians. It offers technical training to youth and post-training employment possibilities.
COAV – Is there a desire on the part of gang youth to leave the gangs?
MC – Currently there are relatively few gang members that want out. Of every 10 only 4 say they want to leave the gang.
COAV – How should reinsertion programmes structure themselves?
MC – The programmes should meet the material needs of youth, and the need of youth to be heard and seen. There are a lot of economic and work programmes, but many of the gang youth need to feel that they are being listened to and the opportunity to become what they want to be: the protagonists of their own lives. Without motivation, without youthful dreams, without demands that they achieve their dreams, a programme will have a hard time removing them from the "cultural jail" they are in.
COAV – Do you personally know gang members?
MC – I know some, some of them are good friends. One of the most moving experiences I had was helping a female gang member who was abandoned by her gang after she was shot by one of her fellow gang members. The stories of female gang members are terrible.
COAV – Tell me more.
MC – Ivón the "fighter" they called her. At 17 she had lived through several rape attempts, had taken all types of drugs and been in several fights, had homosexual relationships, had a son, and the worst of all, was never able to respond to the question, "What do you want from life?"
She lived through the conflict of hating her gang while also playing down all her suffering. At the same time she wanted to return to the gang and admired many of the members. She dreamed of carrying a weapon, of vacilando ("having fun")...I saw up close the contradictions faced by gang members. I visited her in hospital for a month and afterwards at the house of family friends of hers. I was the only person that she counted on. In the end, she recovered and rejoined her gang.
COAV – What were your impressions of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas?
MC – Perhaps an important difference is that in El Salvador there is not such a close relationship between the gangs and organised crime. We think that over time, these two networks will join up, but for now there are no "zones" under the control of drug traffickers as in Rio.
COAV – What motivates you in your daily life?
MC – My motivations are human, stemming from knowing pain up close and desiring that the new generations don’t have to suffer losing a loved one, family breakdown, the irrationality of hate. It is not a naive desire, of course pain is unavoidable in life, but you have to choose the meaning you give it. Here in El Salvador, there is no choice.
Photos: Beto Pêgo
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