How is life inside the Mara Salvatrucha?

arielpr (52)in #gangs • 7 years ago

When thinking about the expression "high-risk gangs" people often create in their minds the image of well-organized mafias who seek to be enriched through violence; Although for people like Juan Martínez d'Aubuisson, that misconception changed after having spent a year with Mara Salvatrucha, one of the most feared groups in Latin America.

The decision to enter one of the cliques of MS 13 - a cell of the Mara- was born from his thesis work. Realizing that all his colleagues were discussing their subjects from a distance from the object of study, Martinez d'Aubuisson thought that the best way to approach any social issue was to be part of it in order to know their customs and analyze their behavior, Without intervening directly in the lifestyle of the subjects to whom he would study. Only in this way could he come to a firm conclusion, free from all prejudice; Though even that opening of mind would not prepare him for everything he was about to witness.

Before even going deep into the life of the Guanacos Criminals Salvatrucha, he had to get in touch with a priest in charge of the youth center in the colony dominated by this clica. Knowing his intentions, being a little disbelieving and surprised that someone wanted so hard to live with the gang members, the only thing the father could say was that if he wanted to stay alive, to continue with his work before he had to understand and follow a series Of rules. The two most important were:

Never walk alone. Being a stranger, anyone could confuse him with an enemy and end his life instantly.

Do not carry anything with the number 18. The years of enmity of the MS 13 with the gang of Barrio 18 make that number, just as described by Martinez, attract death just like a magnet.

"They scan us with their eyes and return to their post without responding to the greeting. To keep, like old women, his saint of ink. " -Juan Martínez d'Aubuisson when entering for the first time a neighborhood controlled by MS 13.

When he finally managed to get into the lives of these people, he realized how wrong society is about gangs. Accustomed to think that all kinds of violence that appears in the streets has a direct relation with monetary interests, people tend to confuse the Mara with a cartel or a mafia; Nevertheless, Martínez d'Aubuisson tries to clarify the difference between the two concepts in his book "See, hear and silence".

While the mafia uses violence to settle accounts and warn their enemies of their abilities; Gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha occupy it as a means of survival. Being in constant war with those of Barrio 18, their aggressions are aimed at marking territory and proving to their rivals what they are capable of if they decide to act against them.

"Gangs get money, more and more, but it would be wrong to say that they are small mafias who seek to get rich. If that were the case, it would be easier to control them, and ridiculous programs to prevent violence, which seek to get gang members out of those groups by giving them work, would be successful."

Although the majority of members do not even exceed 20 years of age, the organization within the cliques is admirable. Since it is not a vertical system of successions, when one of the leaders fails, candidates immediately emerge to take their place. It's not just about managing a group: the leader of a click should be someone who knows how to control their personal emotions and focus on the priorities of the rest. So, for the anthropologist who lived a year with them, these people ceased to be children long ago. They were born with the mentality of men and grew up being dead.

Women play a very important role within gangs. In addition to being mothers and wives, one of the tasks entrusted to them is to "hunt" the enemies: they attract them to strategic places based on deception - usually with the promise of sex - and just when they reach the agreed point, They stand apart so that the other members of the clica do their own thing. That is the reason why they do not wear tattoos (or at least they do not have them in sight).

Although the work of Juan Martínez d'Aubuisson is not the first that is carried out around MS 13, it is considered by many the best of them. By not taking a moral stand on what he saw and lived the year he was in the gang, he was able to offer an objective view of how he lives within it.

Finally, all the young people who came to this group did not do it for pleasure, they were pushed by the social injustice and educational difficulties that the government of El Salvador imposed on them, by stigmatizing them as the cause of a problem and not as the consequence Of the bad decisions that the system has taken since before 1980, decade in which this gang was founded.