What Now?
Connecting The Country's History of Violence to It's Violent Present
Reverend Gerardo Mendez, a priest who works in El Salvador attempting to protect youth from being a part of the gang, discusses in an NPR interview the importance of understanding the roots of the gang. He says: "The violence doesn't exist because of the gangs. The gangs exist because of the violence" (1).It is critical to understand that these people are coming from a life with no opportunity, a poor family life, abuse, and a country that has a history of oppression and violence.
Mendez notes that those who wish for their extermination are the ones who have never been involved with the gang, and are the middle and upper classes. Those who encourage forgiveness and understanding are those most affected by the gang, the lowest class. They are the ones who might have lost a loved one to their violence, and who interact with the gang on an every day basis.
El Salvador's history is one that began with conquest and racial & ethnic oppression. The massacre in 1932 of 30,000 innocent indigenous civilians shows the true intent of those with governing power since the very beginning to this day. This is a government that consistently only benefits the upper class, one that is almost exclusively of european blood. The conflict in El Salvador today is not only one of gang violence, but also one of the oppression of the indigenous that occurred nearly 500 years ago that has turned into an ethnic divide that perpetuates violence. The fight in El Salvador will always remain the same; between the lowest class of ethnic descent, fighting for respect, better living conditions, and basic human rights, and the strong militant government willing to inflict extreme violence to ensure that the lowest class never receives those things. It is no wonder the gang MS-13 has snowballed into such extremes.
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Citations:
1. Garsd, Jasmine, and Gerardo Mendez. "How El Salvador Fell Into A Web Of Gang Violence." NPR. NPR, 5 Oct. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
