The Creation of MS-13
MS-13 Is Created In Response to War Violence and Immigration
The struggles of immigration are apparent. Undocumented citizens struggle to find jobs with livable wages, face persecution and racism because of their ethnicity, and lose a sense of unity and identity.
For the young men who emigrated from El Salvador, living in a completely new environment left them vulnerable. To protect themselves from other gangs such as their long time rival "Calle Dieciocho", these young Salvadorian men created their own gang, now known as "Mara Salvatrucha" or "MS-13". The gang was necessary to protect themselves from other neighborhoods and to defend their own community.
This was especially dangerous because the immigrants from El Salvador had experienced an severe exposure to violence. To them, extreme violence was normal, something you experience on a day to day basis.
A journal centered on Central American studies explains the connection between the violence of the civil war and the violence of MS-13:
"Gang members have practiced this normalized violence in brutal and inhumane methods as has the militarized police in using torture to solve conflict. This type of violence is associated to the violence these children and youth were exposed to during the civil war. As a result, the effects of the civil war, Salvadoran migration, and deportation of migrants have shaped a distinct form of Salvadoran gang masculinity." (Torres)(1).
Torres also states:
"The memories of their childhoods are mixed with the horrors of the war. Gang members as children experienced hunger, living in relocation camps, dodging bullets and bombs, and seeing human corpses, which they associate to their tough demeanor. These child victims experienced and witnessed the atrocities by the military to their own families and community. It was “normal” for children to witness the violence of war when finding decapitated bodies in the centers of city parks" (Torres) (1).
An article highlighting the anatomy of violence in El Salvador explains a study in with citizens were asked how often certain scenarios warranted a violent response. The results were significantly high, where responses condoned violence to most scenarios. (3)
MS-13's roots largely began in Los Angeles, California however, as gang violence grew in L.A, the United States began deporting gang members in large groups back to El Salvador, hence a large presence today in El Salvador and most Central American countries. Due to the lack of infrastructure and control in El Salvador after the Civil War, gang violence prevailed. This allowed a gang, who was originally created for protection, to continue for power and control and inflict mostly unwarranted violence, mostly resulting from extortion. Essentially, MS-13 "glorifies violence above all else" (2), and that in order to gain respect and "climb ranks" within the gang, you have to murder opposing gang members or traitors (2). Over time, the gang has been able to acquire more power in El Salvador, bringing the violence with them past borders. The gang is now present in 46 North American States.
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Citations:
1. Torres, Jose. "Masculinity in Salvadoran Gangs: The “Normalization” of Violence." La Ceiba. Central American Studies Journal, 28 Apr. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
2. Hawkins, Derke. "'MS-13 Glorifies Violence above All Else'" Washington Post. April 2, 2016. Accessed October 13, 2016.
3. Chavez, Joaquín M. "An Anatomy of Violence in El Salvador." NACLA. NACLA, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
4. Garsd, Jasmine, and Gerardo Mendez. "How El Salvador Fell Into A Web Of Gang Violence." NPR. NPR, 5 Oct. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
4. Garsd, Jasmine, and Gerardo Mendez. "How El Salvador Fell Into A Web Of Gang Violence." NPR. NPR, 5 Oct. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
