06 February 2007
New U.S.-Salvadoran Plan Aims To Stop Gang-Related Violence
Plan targets transnational gangs in U.S., Mexico, Central America
Washington -- A new U.S.-El Salvador joint plan is aimed at stopping transnational gang-related violence in El Salvador and throughout Central America, Mexico and the United States, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says.
The plan is designed to help identify and prosecute the most dangerous Salvadoran gang members through programs that enhance enforcement, fugitive apprehension, international coordination, information sharing, and training and prevention, Gonzales said at a February 5 press conference in San Salvador, El Salvador, following his meeting with Salvadoran officials.
“This initiative will enable the United States and our colleagues in Central America to share information and coordinate law enforcement efforts as we work in partnership to target and dismantle violent gangs,” Gonzales said. The attorney general said the safety of El Salvador is threatened by its “serious gang problem,” adding that the United States also has a gang problem from such transnational groups as MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang. An estimated 30,000 violent gangs, with 800,000 members, operate in the United States, Gonzales said.
Gonzales said the United States recognizes gang-related violence is not an issue for just one or two countries -- “it affects the entire [North and Central American] region, and so we must work together regionally” to attack the problem.
The joint initiative with El Salvador is part of a larger effort by the U.S. government to combat gangs and gang-related violence in North and Central America. Gonzales said he has made fighting gangs one of his highest priorities.
REGIONAL THREAT TO GET A REGIONAL RESPONSE
The attorney general said the plan calls for two U.S. agencies -- the Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- to assist El Salvador in establishing a new transnational anti-gang unit to pursue and prosecute gang members.
In addition, for better identification, tracking, and apprehension of gang members, the FBI will accelerate implementation of what is known as the Central American Fingerprinting Exploitation Initiative. The State Department and the FBI will collaborate to provide equipment and training to help law enforcement agencies in El Salvador and other Central American nations acquire digital fingerprints of violent gang members and other criminals who travel and commit crimes under different identities in El Salvador, the United States and other countries.
The plan also calls for the State Department to fund a new regional anti-gang program aimed at gang prevention, police training and the development of law enforcement institutions in El Salvador and neighboring countries. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also is funding a new regional program to support public-private partnership in gang prevention and to further regional cooperation on this issue.
Another aspect of the plan will be a February 7 meeting in Los Angeles of police officials from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and the United States who will focus solely on transnational gangs. Proposals resulting from that meeting will be presented at the third annual International Gang Conference in San Salvador in April.
At the second annual gang conference, held in San Salvador in April 2006, then-U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Doug Barclay said that, “if left unchecked,” gangs have the capacity to become one of the greatest threats to security in the Western Hemisphere.
Barclay, who finished his tour of duty as U.S. envoy to El Salvador on January 17, said gang leaders in one country “can order crimes that are carried out in another country. Gang members move amongst our countries to avoid police investigations. We must work together to stop the crime and the violence, and to bring these individuals to justice. We must have law enforcement networks that are stronger than those of these criminals.”
USAID issued a report in May 2006 assessing the phenomenon of youth gangs in North and Central America. The report warned of an increase in accounts of gang-related violence across Central America and the United States. (See related article.)
President Bush unveiled a $150 million youth initiative in 2005 aimed at helping at-risk youth in the United States overcome the danger of gang influence and involvement. (See White House fact sheet.)
Gang-related violence in El Salvador is also discussed in the State Department’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2005.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
