The Making of Central America’s Street Gangs

Sonja Wolf, Cátedra Conacyt adscrita a la División de Estudios Multidisciplinarios del CIDE, escribió el capítulo The Making of Central America’s Street Gangs en el libro Routledge International Handbook of Critical Gang Studies.

 

Abstract

The countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) have become notorious for the violence of street gangs, particularly Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 (Eighteenth Street Gang). Gang activity has grown more complex over time, and successive governments – of different ideological persuasions – have responded with a highly punitive strategy, even extrajudicial executions of suspected gang members. This chapter argues that the “gang problem” did not undergo an inevitable transformation but was manufactured through the intersection of three kinds of policies: US foreign policy, particularly “anti-Communist” intervention; US immigration and refugee policy; and Central American gang policy.

 

Puedes adquirir el libro Routledge International Handbook of Critical Gang Studies aquí.

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