Gangs and Government Put Their Cards on the Table in El Salvador
Gangs and Government Put Their Cards on the Table in El Salvador
By Edgardo Ayala
SAN SALVADOR, Aug 25 2012 (IPS) - The two main youth gangs in El Salvador and the government have exchanged the main points they would like to discuss in talks aimed at bringing to an end to two decades of spiraling criminal violence. But the media, legislators and the public at large remain hostile to the possible start of negotiations.
The leaders of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18, who are in different prisons, made the first move, presenting the government of centre-left President Mauricio Funes with the demands they would want to include on the agenda of eventual negotiations.
In public, the government still rejects the possibility of sitting down to talk with the “maras” or gangs, principally because of the potential political fallout from an initiative that is not widely accepted, say analysts who spoke to IPS.
But the Funes administration has also provided the gang leaders with its list of proposals to be discussed in what would be the second phase of efforts towards curbing the violence in El Salvador – after the current contacts, which are preliminary and indirect, but with facilitators on both sides.
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http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/gangs-and-government-put-their-cards-on-the-table-in-el-salvador/