Barrio 18
Prisoners are Being Tortured to Death in El Salvador’s Prisons
A new report describes what goes on within the Central American nation's prisons, which now hold 2 percent of the adult population.
Why Are So Many More Gang Members Suddenly Dying in El Salvador’s Prisons?
At least 83 inmates have died in the country's opaque and overcrowded prison system in the eight months since a gang crackdown.
The Price of Being Gay in the MS-13 Gang? Death
Homosexuality is an affront to the rules of El Salvador’s violent street gangs, and a documentary filmmaker has shown a side to the gangs never seen before.
How a Notorious Gang Governed Alongside a Mayor in El Salvador
The latest conviction of a former local mayor in El Salvador serves as an example of how local authorities work with, not against, the local street gangs to serve shared interests.
Three Central American countries could form a huge anti-gang force
Honduras is trying to get El Salvador and Guatemala on board the idea of a tri-national force to fight the gangs. The plan is inspired by the controversial crackdown currently underway in El Salvador.
El Salvador rounds up top MS-13 leaders and goes after gang's money
The arrests, which targeted the alleged financial structure behind the Mara Salvatrucha gang, also highlighted the lavish lifestyle of the leadership.
El Salvador’s startling murder rate is dropping
The government claims the drop is due to its "iron fist" crackdown on the country's notorious gangs. Gang leaders say it is because they negotiated a truce.
El Salvador’s Government Wants to Make Sure Nobody Tries to Negotiate a Gang Truce Again
The arrest of 18 people for allegedly committing crimes while they helped negotiate the last truce in 2012 appears to rule out any alternative to the government’s “iron fist” approach to the country’s brutal criminal gangs.
El Salvador Cops and Soldiers Are Executing Gang Members and Pretending They Didn't Do It, Official Says
An investigation by Human Rights Ombudsman David Morales found evidence of extrajudicial executions in two incidents last year, raising fears of a return to the civil war death squads of the 1980s.
El Salvador Is Creating a Special Military Unit to Hunt Gang Members
The government is waging a war against the country's gangs. So far, in 2016, 2,230 people have been killed, an increase of 158 percent from the same period in 2015.
El Salvador's Gangs Offered a Truce — And the Government Declared War
The government has declared a state of emergency in seven prisons and is expected to mobilize the army to fight the gangs in some areas.
El Salvador’s Already Horrific Murder Rate Is Getting Much Worse
The number of murders in the first two months of this year was more than double the number in the same period of 2015.