Spanish Courts Charge 20 in Killing of Jesuits in 1989

A news report from the New York Times today (May 31), reports that a Spanish judge has issued arrest warrants Monday, May 30, for some of the top leaders of El Salvador's military leaders, accusing them of planning and implementing the murders of the six Jesuit priests at the University of Central America, their housekeeper, and her daughter. The Times reports that in a 77-page document, the judge, Eloy Valasco Nunez of Spain's National Court, said the 20 men named in the warrants never had doubts about "carrying out the most execrable crimes against people merely to impose their strategies and ideas."
Those named in the document included Rafael Humberto Larios, who was the Salvadoran defense minister at the time of the killing; Juan Orlando Zepeda, the vice defense minister; Rene Emilio Ponce, leader of the Army's Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Inocente Orlando Montano, the vice minister of public safety. The full report is in the May 31 edition of the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/world/americas/31salvador.html?_r=1&hpw

Current Realities in Salvadoran Gang Cultures

Considering New Options for Solutions to Violence

Brian Rude, a Board member of Christians for Peace in El Salvador, has dedicated his life to working with at-risk youth throughout the country, especially those caught up in the violence of the country’s youth gangs. Brian is the founder of Quetzalcuatl, an organization that works in prison ministry, and educational programming for at risk youth. Following is a reflection from Brian on the current state-of-affairs in El Salvador vis-à-vis the gangs.

By Rev. Brian Rude

     Up until two decades ago, as the armed conflict in El Salvador was being mediated to a close, "gangs" had been involved mainly in school or soccer rivalries -- local turf battles. About this time, they took on a Los Angeles street-gang mystique. Salvadoran youth, some exiled to Los Angeles, many others practically abandoned in their home neighbourhoods in El Salvador, banded together for survival, especially for physical reasons, but also financial ones. They sought security, identity, a family and a space to call home. Over this period they are portrayed to have become better organized and more violent.

     Anyone who followed or who remembers the brutality of government "security" forces during the war years could hardly label these youth as being anti-social in this context. They adapted remarkably well and with amazing creativity and organizational skills to the society which surrounded them, conforming to and reshaping this culture of military, police and death-squad assassinations and massacres, a perverse and pervasive reality which no doubt served as one of their models, at least subconsciously.
     One could approach the current reality from a statistical perspective, though statistics are hard to come by, distressingly diverse, and often unreliable. How many gang members are there? The number of those in prison -- about 8,000, 1/3 of the total number of inmates in El Salvadoran prisons -- is perhaps the most reliable indicator here. More than double, or even triple, that number could be outside the prison walls. Harsher laws have led to greater mobility and flexibility on their part.  They have largely abandoned their former passion for defending their "barrio" or neighborhoods. Their territory might now well be their clientele, rather than any particular geographical space.
     A variant question might better be posed: how many potential gang members are living in Salvadoran barrios? What factors might affect whether or not young Salvadorans follow in the footsteps of their older siblings, their parents, their neighbours, who often serve as their models, even their heroes? As with those who have gone before, these potential recruits have few other options or opportunities to pursue. The reality which surrounds them easily draws them in.
     The debate concerning what percentage of homicides, extortion, drug trafficking, etc., is attributable to the gang population is quite speculative, leading to wildly diverse "statistics", ranging from 90 percent (previous "iron fist" ARENA presidents and mass media) to 50 percent (National Civilian Police, 2010) to 10-12 percent (forensic medicine, 2009, 2010). The media, of course, rely heavily on the sensationalist 90 percent end of the scale. With this bias, they play their role as shapers of public opinion. The public, in turn, is applying pressure for public policy to meet the ensuing demand. Gangs, of course, are rarely given a voice, or a chance to speak for themselves.
     Gang relationships to organized crime is also a matter of constant speculation, with little evidence to indicate the true reality. One former president even linked the gangs to Al Qaeda. More recently they tend to be linked to "Los Zeta", a Mexican drug cartel of ex police officers apparently making inroads into Central America. If levels of involvement are difficult to determine, even more so would be the level of self-determination or leadership these gangs might have in such relationships. Are they pawns or
partners?
     Gang culture is not monolithic or uniform. While there are two primary opposing gangs in El Salvador ("Mara Salvatrucha" and "18"), the latter is divided into two, such that two prisons are needed to keep them separate. There are also divisions between active members and "calmados", or those who have withdrawn to some degree from active involvement.
     Few in Salvadoran society, especially the authorities or spokespersons, would recognize these youth as their own sons and daughters, their own flesh and blood, the offspring of the patria. Few would be willing to acknowledge them as mirrors of society. They are denigrated and demonized unceasingly, especially by politicians and the media. Those making the laws have perhaps never had a personal, face-to-face conversation with a gang member. The chasm dividing gang culture from much of everyday society
is enormous. Conversation and dialogue are ruled out as potential strategies for overcoming the gap and the animosities: What was learned from the process of dialogue leading to the Peace Accords in 1992 is not being applied to this armed conflict.
     Ever harsher, more humiliating, even inhumane, treatment, on the streets and in the prisons, is considered to be the most appropriate, productive solution. The military, the Armed Forces, is considered to be the best option for putting these youth in their places, an option being questioned with ever greater concern by those affected and those involved, including the rapporteur for the Organization of American States, reporting on a monitoring visit to the nation's penitentiary system conducted in October, 2010. A new proscription law, passed in September 2010, is now being implemented, after some delays due to technical interpretations. This law imposes a 7-year prison sentence for belonging to a gang, and several more years for a leadership role within the gang.
     There are some, such as the members of a coalition of NGO's, who consider that a more respectful, more humane strategy would bear better fruits. Inclusion, rather than further isolation -- a strategy rarely considered, never attempted and certainly never implemented with this sector -- could potentially draw them into society in a healthier, more productive way.
     There is a growing effort to approach this phenomenon through personal story-telling. Documentaries, articles, movies, websites and books are being dedicated to presenting these gang members as human beings, as individuals with families, personal histories, dreams and aspirations, emotions . . . Not many citizens have the chance, or the desire, to rub shoulders with these individuals, much less the opportunity to hear their stories face to face, smile to smile, followed by a big hug.
     What gang members -- as we all -- need, is not to be penned off, surrounded by machine guns toted by masked, anonymous, ominous soldiers, isolated from their families and all of society, but an open heart and a listening ear. To the measure that they are included in the human community, they could well respond in surprisingly affirming ways. We hope it's not too late to pursue this option. 

Children's Disappearance Highlighted in Human Rights Court

The disappearance of four girls and two children by the Salvadoran armed forces between 1981 and 1983 was brought to the public forum May 17 during a meeting of the Pan American Court of Human Rights in Panama City, Panama. For the first time in a meeting of this kind, the Salvadoran government accepted responsibility for the disappearances during the Salvadoran civil war, and it also shouldered the responsibility for violations of the law. The victims were represented by Pro-Busqueda, the Salvadoran agency dedicated to finding missing family members disappeared during the 12-year civil war in El Salvador, and by the Center of Justice and International Law (CEJIL). This report was submitted by Pro-Busqueda. The case before the court is the result of three reviews in which the disappearance of members of the Ramirez family, some of whom were illegally adopted by members of the military and whose identities were changed, and some who disappeared altogether, according to reports. Representatives of the families stated that their main desire was to know the location of their beloved family members, but military authorities have refused to give data about the location of those who disappeared, according to Diario Co Latino, a weekly Salvadoran newspaper. Because of the military's reluctance to provide any information, Pro-Busqueda members requested the creation of mechanisms to guarantee that the children's whereabouts become known to the court system. Ester Alvarenda, a spokesperson from Pro-Busqueda, noted that the court's demands on disclosure so that the many hundreds of victims' families can benefit as well.

“Cartel of Texis” under investigation in El Salvador

A report May 17 in the digital news magazine El Faro confirmed recent news reports that the Salvadoran government is investigating the purported drug gang “The Cartel of Texis” for its involvement in drug trafficking in El Salvador. El Pais, the Spanish newspaper, also reported this week that an investigation of the group was under way in El Salvador. Reports state that the cartel is alleged to traffic in cocaine in El Salvador, as a mid-point between South American sites and the United States.

            On Tuesday, Mauricio Funes, President of El Salvador, confirmed the existence of the drug network in the northern and northwestern parts of El Salvador, and that the group was called the Cartel of Texis, a reference to its operating in the northern municipality of Texistepeque, where it is alleged that the cartel has infiltrated business, government and police leadership from top to bottom. El Faro also reports that a group of Mexican hitmen known as The Zeds, are freely operating nearby in Guatemala.

            In March, The Los Angeles Times reported that Mexican drug gangs making major and rapid inroads into El Salvador call the small Central American nation “El Caminito,” The Little Pathway, due to is recent role in the increase in the narco trade in Mexico and parts south. The Times reported that new highway systems leading to and running through El Salvador have helped fuel the growth in trafficking, allowing the drug lords to use the highways as overland routes for their deadly cargos.

            In addition, the Times noted that El Salvador’s use of the United States dollar as its official currency “makes the nation “a money-launderer’s paradise.”

Funes to Manage Security Funds from the United States

SAN SALVADOR – Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes and his government will manage the distribution of a $200 million security investment into Central America, an announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama when he was in El Salvador in March. Funes and his administration will help funnel cash into a regional security fund that could cost upwards of a billion dollars, according to figures released from the current gathering of defense ministers, security agencies and other governmental agencies in Central America. The report was from the website Contrapunto.com.sv.

The international forum, began meeting Tuesday, May 10 in San Salvador. A major topic of discussion at the meeting was the current status of ocean security of Panama and Costa Rica, nations without naval powers. The next meeting of the group will be held in June in Guatemala.

Christian Democrats Take a Final Bow

That grand old party in El Salvador, The Christian Democrats, was officially disbanded at the end of April in a ruling by the Salvadoran Supreme Court. The Christian Democratic Party, as well as the conservative National Conciliation Party, both were scratched by the court because they failed to meet the nation's three-percent rule in the most recent national elections. The Christian Democrats were the party of power during much of the tumultuous 1980s, with the noteworthy accomplishment of being the first party to peacefully hand over leadership after an election to a rival party in the history of El Salvador under the watch of then-president Jose Napolean Duarte. The Christian Democrats' star has long been fading with the ascendancy of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), which currently governs El Salvador.