Gang Truce Cuts El Salvador’s Murder Rate By 40%

Nine months after agreeing to an historic truce, jailed leaders from El Salvador’s largest street gangs say they are ready to curb more than just killings – at least in a handful of strategic “peace zones.” Before moving ahead with the experimental plan, however, the notoriously violent maras, as the groups are known, want the government to do something in return: repeal its repressive “anti-gang law.”

What’s Next For El Salvador’s Life-Saving Gang Truce?

A tenuous truce between rival street gangs has held up for four months and counting, halving El Salvador’s horrific homicide rate and raising hopes among some daring optimists of a lasting “peace process.”

Tenuous Gang Truce Halves Homicides In El Salvador

Salvadoran gang members surrender weapons (Departamento de Seguridad Publica OEA)

Something remarkable recently occurred – or rather didn’t occur – in violence plagued El Salvador. On April 14, for the first time in nearly three years, police did not record a single murder. For a country that normally counts its daily homicide figures in double digits, the sudden absence of murder reports wasn’t just good news; it was huge news.

El Salvador And Crime, The Neverending Story

(Credit - Phillip Pessar/Flickr)

El Salvador’s violent crime epidemic is proving to be a veritable Chinese finger puzzle for President Mauricio Funes, who for all of his efforts seems no closer to reigning in the murderous maras (street gangs) or cutting into the country’s horrific homicide count.

El Salvador Unveils Gang-Busting Law

Desperate to reign in the rampant violence that has made tiny El Salvador one of the world’s most dangerous non-conflict zones, President Mauricio Funes has implemented a series of tough law-and-order tactics targeted primarily at the country’s notorious “maras” (street gangs).