Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T04:59:09.235Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mara Salvatrucha: The Most Dangerous Street Gang in the Americas?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sonja Wolf
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), founded in 1980s Los Angeles by Salvadoran immigrant youth, is today one of the largest street gangs in North and Central America. In recent years the group has acquired a reputation for extreme brutality and has ostensibly mutated into a fast-expanding, transnational organized crime network with possible ties to international terrorists. Drawing on key concepts in gang research and multiple methodological tools, this article seeks to sharpen understanding of MS-13’s structure and activities. While the group is active in many countries, it is transnational only in a symbolic manner, not in its configuration or span of authority. Impelled largely by Central American gang-suppression policies, MS-13 has evolved from a traditional street gang into a group with organized crime characteristics, but it remains a social phenomenon rooted in urban marginality. Ultimately, a more nuanced picture of Mara Salvatrucha can inform the search for more effective gang policies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , Spring 2012 , pp. 65 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, Jennifer and Pizarro, Jesenia. 2009. Ms-13: a Gang Profile. Journal of Gang Research 16, 4: 1–11.Google Scholar
Aguilar, Jeannette. 2006. Pandillas juveniles transnacionales en Centroamérica, México y Estados Unidos: diagnóstico de El Salvador. San Salvador : IUDOP.Google Scholar
Aguilar, Jeannette. 2007. Los resultados contraproducentes de las políticas antipandillas. ECA 708: 877–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aguilar, Jeannette and Carranza, Marlon. 2008. Las maras y pandillas como actores ilegales de la región. Report prepared for the Informe Estado de la región en desarrollo humano sostenible 2008. San Salvador : IUDOP.Google Scholar
Amaya, Edgardo. 2010. Adviser, Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Author interview. San Salvador, June 16.Google Scholar
Arana, Ana. 2005. How the Street Gangs Took Central America. Foreign Affairs 84, 3: 98–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, Nielan. 2006. Transnational Youth Gangs in Central America, Mexico, and the United States. Working paper. Mexico City : ITAM.Google Scholar
BBC News. 2007. Padilla Guilty in U.S. Terror Trial. August 16. http://news.bbc.co.uk.Google Scholar
Boraz, Steven and Bruneau, Thomas. 2006. Are the Maras Overwhelming Governments in Central America? Military Review (Winter): 36–40.Google Scholar
Boston Globe . 2004. Street Gangs Stake Turf in Cyberspace. July 18 (Lexis Nexis).Google Scholar
Boston Globe . 2006. Gangs Roil Central America. April 17 (Lexis Nexis).Google Scholar
Brevé, Federico. 2007. The Maras. Military Review (Summer): 88–95.Google Scholar
Bruneau, Thomas. 2005. The Maras and National Security in Central America. Strategic Insights 4: 1–12.Google Scholar
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). 2009. Cdcr Gang Overview. Presentation at the Fifth Anti-Gang Convention, National Civilian Police of El Salvador, Sonsonate, April 28–30.Google Scholar
Chabat, Jorge. 2008. Franchises for Crime. Working Paper. Mexico City : CIDE.Google Scholar
CoLatino . 2009. Christian Poveda estaba preocupado por el cada vez mayor índice de violencia. September 7. http://www.diariocolatino.com.Google Scholar
Corsetti, Jeffrey. 2006. Marked for Death: the Maras of Central America and Those Who Flee Their Wrath. Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 20, 3: 407–36.Google Scholar
Cotto, Augusto. 2010. Subdirector of Investigations, Pnc. Author interview. San Salvador, June 18.Google Scholar
Covey, Herbert. 2003. Street Gangs Throughout the World. Springfield : C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Cruz, Miguel. 2007. El barrio transnacional. In Redes transnacionales en la cuenca de los huracanes, ed. Pisani, Francis, Saltalamacchia, Natalia, Tickner, Arlene and Barnes, Nielan. Mexico City : ITAM/Porrúa. 357–82.Google Scholar
Cruz, Miguel and Santacruz, María. 2005. La victimización y la percepción de seguridad en El Salvador en 2004. San Salvador : MINGOB/PNUD.Google Scholar
Decker, Scott, Bynum, Tim and Weisel, Deborah. 1998. A Tale of Two Cities: Gangs as Organized Crime Groups. Justice Quarterly 15, 3: 395–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delaney, Tim. 2006. American Street Gangs. Upper Saddle River : Pearson.Google Scholar
Demoscopía, . 2007. Maras y pandillas, comunidad y policía en Centroamérica. San José : Demoscopía.Google Scholar
El Diario de Hoy (San Salvador). 2005. Revive presunto vínculo Al Qaeda-Ms. February 15. http://www.elsalvador.com.Google Scholar
Dunn, William. 2007. The Gangs of Los Angeles. Lincoln : iUniverse.Google Scholar
The Economist . 2006. Out of the Underworld. January 7 (Lexis Nexis).Google Scholar
Etter, Gregg. 2010. Mara Salvatrucha 13. Journal of Gang Research 17, 2: 1–17.Google Scholar
Faux, Frédéric. 2006. Les maras, gangs d'enfants. Paris : Autrement Frontières.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 2008. The Ms-13 Threat. January 14. http://www.fbi.gov.Google Scholar
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). n.d. Seeking Information: Adnan El Shukrijumah. http://www.fbi.gov.Google Scholar
Fernández, Jorge and Ronquillo, Víctor. 2006. De los maras a los zetas. Mexico City : Random House/Mondadori.Google Scholar
Fogelbach, Juan. 2005. Mara Salvatrucha (Ms-13) and Ley Anti Mara. San Diego International Law Journal 7: 223–58.Google Scholar
Franco, Celinda. 2008. The MS-13 and 18th Street Gangs. Washington, DC : CRS.Google Scholar
Franzese, Robert, Covey, Herbert and Menard, Scott, eds. 2006. Youth Gangs. 3rd ed. Springfield : C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Fuchs, Alexandre (dir.). 2007. Hijos de la guerra. DVD. UK/USA : Directional Studios/Fly Films.Google Scholar
Grascia, Andrew. 2004. Gang Violence: Mara Salvatrucha: “Forever Salvador.” Journal of Gang Research 11, 2: 29–36.Google Scholar
Greene, Judith and Pranis, Kevin. 2007. Gang Wars. Report. Washington, DC : JPI. http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/07-07_rep_gangwars_gc-ps-ac-jj.pdf.Google Scholar
Gutiérrez, Lirio. 2008. Enclaves y territorios. Ph.D. diss., Freie Universität Berlin.Google Scholar
Hagedorn, John. 2008. Making Sense of Central America Maras. Air & Space Power Journal (Summer), Spanish ed. http://www.airpower.au.af.mil/apjinternational/apj-s/2008/2tri08/hagedorneng.htm.Google Scholar
Hume, Mo. 2007. “(Young) Men with Big Guns”: Reflexive Encounters with Violence and Youth in El Salvador. Bulletin of Latin American Research 26, 4: 480–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hume, Mo. 2009. The Politics of Violence. Oxford : Blackwell.Google Scholar
Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUDOP). 2003. Las preferencias políticas en octubre de 2003. ECA 660: 1071–78.Google Scholar
Johnson, Mary. 2006. National Policies and the Rise of Transnational Gangs. Washington, DC : MPI. http://www.migrationinformation.org.Google Scholar
Jütersonke, Oliver, Muggah, Robert and Rodgers, Dennis. 2009. Gangs, Urban Violence, and Security Interventions in Central America. Security Dialogue 40: 373–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, Charles and Webb, Vincent. 2006. Policing Gangs in America. New York : Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, Malcolm. 1995. The American Street Gang. New York : Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, Malcolm and Maxson, Cheryl. 2006. Street Gang Patterns and Policies. New York : Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lara, Marco. 2006. Hoy te toca la muerte. Mexico City : Planeta.Google Scholar
LeValley, David. 2005. Supervisory Special Agent, Ms-13 National Gang Task Force, Fbi. Author interview. Washington, DC, October 21.Google Scholar
Logan, Samuel. 2009. This is for the Mara Salvatrucha. New York : Hyperion.Google Scholar
Manwaring, Max. 2005. Street Gangs: The New Urban Insurgency. Carlisle : Strategic Studies Institute. http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=597.Google Scholar
Martínez, Carlos. 2010a. La voz de las wilas. El Faro (San Salvador), October 3. http://www.elfaro.net/es/201009/noticias/2589.Google Scholar
Martínez, Juan José. 2010b. Anthropologist. Author interview. San Salvador, June 18.Google Scholar
Maxson, Cheryl. 2006. Gang Members on the Move. In The Modern Gang Reader, 3rd ed., ed. Egley, Arlen et al. Los Angeles : Roxbury. 117–29.Google Scholar
McGuire, Connie. 2006. Working paper on Central American Youth Gangs in the Washington, DC Area. Mimeograph. Washington, DC : WOLA.Google Scholar
Moreno, Douglas. 2010. Prisons Director. Author interview. San Salvador, June 18.Google Scholar
El Mundo (San Salvador). 2010. Caen cómplices de mareros que ordenaron paro. September 11. http://www.elmundo.com.sv.Google Scholar
Narváez, Juan Carlos. 2007. Ruta transnacional. Mexico City : Porrúa.Google Scholar
National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC). 2009. National Gang Threat Assessment 2009. Washington, DC : NGIC.Google Scholar
Newsweek . 2005. The Most Dangerous Gang in America. March 28 (Lexis Nexis).Google Scholar
Orellana, Celia. 2006. Probation Officer. Author interview. San Salvador, June 21.Google Scholar
Papachristos, Andrew. 2005. Gang World. Foreign Policy 147 (March–April): 48–55.Google Scholar
Perea, Carlos Mario. 2006. Red transnacional de análisis sobre maras y pandillas: pandillas en México. Working paper. Mexico City : ITAM.Google Scholar
Poe, Charles (prod.). 2006. World's Most Dangerous Gang. DVD. USA : National Geographic Channel.Google Scholar
Policía Nacional Civil (PNC). 2009. Organización y funcionamiento de las pandillas en Centroamérica. Presentation at the Fifth Anti-Gang Convention, National Civilian Police of El Salvador, Sonsonate, April 28–30.Google Scholar
Poveda, Christian. 2009. Filmmaker. Author interview. Mexico City, April 1.Google Scholar
Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). 2005. Informe sobre el desarrollo humano 2005. San Salvador : PNUD.Google Scholar
Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). 2009. Informe sobre desarrollo humano para América Central 2009–2010. San José : PNUD.Google Scholar
Ranum, Elin. 2006. Pandillas juveniles transnacionales en Centroamérica, México y Estados Unidos: diagnóstico nacional Guatemala. San Salvador : IUDOP.Google Scholar
Rodgers, Dennis. 2007. Joining the Gang and Becoming a Broder: the Violence of Ethnography in Contemporary Nicaragua. Bulletin of Latin American Research 26, 4: 444–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, Dennis. 2009. Slum Wars of the 21st Century. Development and Change 40, 5: 949–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogers, Joseph. 2003. Confronting Transnational Gangs in the Americas. Journal of Gang Research 10, 2: 33–44.Google Scholar
Rogers, Joseph. 2007. Gangs and Terrorists in the Americas: an Unlikely Nexus. Journal of Gang Research 12, 2: 19–30.Google Scholar
Savenije, Wim. 2004. La Mara Salvatrucha y el Barrio 18 St. Foreign Affairs en Español 4, 2: 38–46.Google Scholar
Savenije, Wim. 2007. Las pandillas trasnacionales o “maras.” Foro Internacional 47, 3: 637–59.Google Scholar
Savenije, Wim. 2009. Maras y barras. San Salvador : FLACSO.Google Scholar
Strocka, Cordula. 2006. Youth Gangs in Latin America. SAIS Review 26, 2: 133–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, John. 2006. Maras Morphing. Global Crime 7, 3–4: 487–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swecker, Chris. 2005. Assistant Director, Fbi. Testimony Before the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. April 20. http://www.fbi.gov.Google Scholar
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 2007. Crime and Development in Central America. Report. Vienna : UNODC.Google Scholar
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 2008. The Threat of Narco-Trafficking in the Americas. Report. Vienna : UNODC.Google Scholar
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 2010. The Globalization of Crime. Report. Vienna : UNODC.Google Scholar
Valenzuela, José, Nateras, Alfredo and Reguillo, Rossana, eds. 2007. Las maras. Mexico City : UAM/El Colegio de la Frontera Norte/Casa Juan Pablos.Google Scholar
Vigil, James. 2002. A Rainbow of Gangs. Austin : University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Washington Times . 2004. Al Qaeda Seeks Tie to Local Gangs. September 28. http://www.washingtontimes.com.Google Scholar
Winton, Ailsa. 2007. Using “Participatory” Methods with Young People in Contexts of Violence. Bulletin of Latin American Research 26, 4: 497–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolf, Sonja. 2009. El control de pandillas en la relación El Salvador-Estados Unidos. Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica 9, 4: 85–96.Google Scholar
Wright, Alan. 2006. Organised Crime. Cullompton : Willa.Google Scholar
Zilberg, Elana. 2004. Fools Banished from the Kingdom: Remapping Geographies of Gang Violence between the Americas. American Quarterly 56: 765–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar