Mara Salvatrucha

“They grab three or four young people wandering around and present them as suspects… blaming them for every single crime without justification.” –Maria Luisa Barjas
Violence and discriminaton is not the correct way to put a stop to the Mara Salvatrucha gang, and it’s also not just. The Mara Salvatrucha also known as MS-13 gang, started here in the United States by Salvodarians as a result of discrimination. Immigrants who came from El Salvador to escape the civil war that was taking place in there country were victimized and discriminated against by local gangs. Soon this immigrants though of a way to stop the way they were being treated by creating a gang to be protected. They soon became as one of the most dangerous and violent gangs. Members were caught in illegitimate doings and were deported back to there country, that’s how they spread trough Central America.

As a result of them forming the MS-13, when they went back to there on country they got discriminating on as well for being a gang member. Honduras was the first country to established anti-gang laws in an attempt to stop the MS-13. Soon after that, El Salvador established laws anti-gang laws such as La Manu Dura. Foolish laws like this one where taking many innocent people to jail. People that were suspected to be violating where arrested and faced to a 12 year sentence in prison even if no crime was committed. Something ridiculous as having a tattoo could be the trigger to your arrest. The police where abusing there authority. They where acting exceedingly unjust to the people.

All this anti-gang laws lead to a group forming called the Sombra Negra who kills the gang members. The Sombra Negra Started killing anybody that was thought to be from the MS-13 gang. People think that this death squad has sponsorship from the Salvodorian government, they deny it. It is also said that the members are compromised of off duty police and military personnel. Nobody has the right to kill like that just because you may be involved in a gang, they at least should receive a trial and see what there crimes have been if any, and be sentenced to prison and not be killed. There has even been prisons caught on fire that housed many MS-13 gang members, and there are rumors that the government has to do with it. All this discrimination going on has lead to many bad things, as bad as the MS-13 gang is they don’t deserve to be discriminated or killed, we need to reach out to them and find ways to cope with this major gang in an attempt to stop it.