The Civil War in
El Salvador was sparked due to the assassination of Óscar Arnulfo Romero, a bishop in the Catholic Church of El Salvador and the undefined icon of peace and love in the country, which caused national outrage. Protests began to erupt throughout the streets, and authorities were met with disturbance, but no violence. Soon, authorities began to open fire to peaceful demonstrates, and then the people of the country decided to fight back, as well as the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLFN). Although the FMLFN was a communist group in
El Salvador, they were the ones fighting the opposition. This conflict lasted from 1979-1992, with over 70,000-80,000 casualties. Many families wanted a chance of survival, so they immigrated to the
United States for safety. Once some Salvadorians entered
L.A., they soon realized that the city was already filled with Mexican gangs, as well as African-American gangs. Many of these Mexican and African-American gangs caused trouble to these people, who have just left from a country being torn by its own government. Soon, young adults and youth started a gang called, “Mara Salvatrucha”. A few of the members in the Mara Salvatrucha were part of the rebel forces in
El Salvador, or they witnessed enough blood, bodies, and bones to lose their sense of fear. These factors hardened the members, and some were even trained in some knowledge in Guerrilla Warfare because of the knowledge of members. The main focus of the Mara Salvatrucha was to protect El Salvadorians, as well as a few other Hispanic people in
L.A., from the other gangs that roamed around the dark and dangerous streets. They were known for their ruthless attacks, and their lack of fear towards death.
While causing chaos in the streets of
L.A., the Mexican Mafia, otherwise known as “La M”, decided to contemplate the idea of teaming up with the Mara Salvatrucha. Soon, the idea became reality when the Mexican Mafia integrated them into the Latino gang alliance that was previously formed. Soon, crimes started to become bigger in the U.S, as MS-13 grew in numbers. This is where the
United States comes in. Since the crime rates were skyrocketing because of this new gang, the
United States government implemented action, and many members of MS-13 were deported back to
El Salvador. Unexpectedly, the members that were imprisoned soon began recruiting in the prisons they were sent to. Membership numbers quickly rose, and the influence of MS-13 soon spread throughout
El Salvador,
Honduras,
Mexico, and many states in the
U.S. Many prisoners, regular citizens, and even children were impressed with MS-13's work, and wanted to join them. The crime rates in many countries began to rise quickly, and many of the crimes performed by the MS-13 made headlines in the papers. These include crimes that occurred in the
U.S., as well as places in
Central America. In 1997, members of the MS-13 kidnapped the son of the Honduran President. He was later killed, dismembered, and his corps was dumped. One of their most brutal killings occurred in
Honduras, in 2002. MS-13 members boarded a bus, killed the driver, and then proceeded to open fire on all the citizens in the bus, killing 28 innocent civilians. 7 of those killed in this massacre, were children. The MS-13 then left a note on the bus warning officials and authorities not to get in their way. One of the most recent actions of the MS-13 occurred in 2010. A couple of members of MS-13 were all caught, and charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon, along with various other charges. They were part of the murder of a 19-year-old mother, along with her 2-year-old son. She was caught, “Disrespecting” the gang, and her and her son were taken into a wooded area, hidden from the public eye. They were then shot and killed in an execution fashion. The mother was shot in the head, and the chest, where the 2-year-old son was shot in the head twice.
The MS-13 also runs dozens of illegal activities that turn a profit. This would include human trafficking, drug smuggling, black market weapons dealing, and assassinations. In MS-13's early years, they could only do low level drug dealing, making profits of off small sums of cocaine, and deal only ideal weapons like pistols or SMG's. Now, they deal pounds of cocaine daily, as well as traffic more sophisticated weapons like RPG's. The amount of criminal activity then created tremendous panic in the
United States government, and input many different actions to stop this violent and ruthless gang. The Obama administration announced that MS-13 would officially be known as a Transnational Criminal Organization, and their leaders and others would be sanctioned, with their American-owned assets frozen. This now leads to the violent ways the MS-13 has come to use during the present.
The History of the name, however, is not 100% confirmed. There are different explanations for the naming of this gang. One of the common explanations is the word Mara, translates to “Gang” in Spanish. The second part of the gangs name is actually 2 words joined together. Salva represents Salvadorians; while Trucha is believe to stand for alert, or tough. The 13 is believed to be included as a sign of respect to the Mexican Mafia, also known as “La M”, because the letter M is the 13th letter in the alphabet.
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