Demystifying the Maras

“Gangs geopardize security in Central America”, “Maras: the new emerging power”, “Born to defend their neighborhoods, they evolved to penetrate organized crime”. These are but a few of the headlines taken from major newspapers in the region. In recent years, Central American youth gangs, known as maras have stormed the media, galvanizing governments, researchers and civil society. Generally depicted as a violent and uncontrollable phenomenon, there is however, much in the image of the maras that is based on prejudice and misinformation, contend study authors.

“There are today few diagnostic studies that allow for a deeper understanding of the maras phenomenon, and, although there are relevant studies from Central America, the fact the maras are constantly changing, the new government responses and the post-9/11 scenario, all this requires updated research,” says the site of the Red Transnacional de Análisis sobre Maras (Transnational network for the analysis of Maras), a project that bridges different sectors of society, bringing together policy makers, social activists and academic researchers to create an open debate on the topic of maras and to foment the creation of comprehensive public policy.

“Current research shows that, although it is a very complex and growing problem, the maras are quite limited in terms of criminal activities and transnacional connections,”says Gema Santamaría (photo) from México's Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo (ITAM), which, along with 18 representatives from various research institutes, make up the network that is supported by the Ford Foundation and the Kellogg Foundation.

According to the study, “the efforts for treating the problem from the point of view of national security are less fruitful than those who approach it as a social problem, from the point of view of human rights and/or public health, based on structural legal and economic failings of the state.”

According your study: “although it is a very complex and growing problem, the maras are quite limited in terms of criminal activities and transnacional connections. How did you arrive at this conclusion? On what basis?

Study conclusions are based on interviews and on fieldwork that was carried out by a team of investigators from the Transnational Network of Analysis of Maras over a period of close to two years. We have subjected the notion of transnacional criminal networks to a critical review, based especially on surveys carried out in prisons in Guatemala and El Salvador, interviewing both active mara members and former mara members.

In Guatemala for example, 58.5% of the gang members interviewed (pandilleros) denied any involvement with gangs from other countries. The remaining 41.5% said that, whenever there was any contact, it was merely informal (only 18.5% mentioned a contact relationship that was more formal, hierarchic and structured so that it was possible to receive or give orders).

In the case of El Salvador, according to survey results only 28.2% of gang members interviewed in prisons had had a previous contact with gang members of other countries. Of this group, 66.0% stated that such contacts had the goal of exchanging information (42.9%) or of receiving orders (23.1%).

What obstacles are there to hinder the expansion of maras across national borders?

From our in-depth interviews with former gang members and those carried out with members of civil society we gather there are at least two major obstacles to stop the maras from acting across national borders:

Firstly it is their own nature and way of functioning, which does not allow them to maintain networks that are hierarchical and organized as required for a transnational criminal network. Ultimately, whenever they do organize around a specific type of crime, they tend to be associated with what we call 'unorganised' crime.

Secondly, Mano Dura policies on the one hand, and the tightening of the United States immigration policies on the other, have made it much more difficult for gang members to maintain connections outside their country, even their own neighborhoods.

What was your method of research and how long did it take to complete the survey?

Approximately 2 years. For the northern triangle (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) we used the following methodology: surveys of gang members in prison, detention centers and with former gang members who have rehabilitated themselves or are in the process (working with NGOs and with social workers), in-depth interviews with members of civil society and with government employees.

In Mexico: we followed media reports in the four cities studied (Tapachula, Tijuana, D.F. y Morelia), in-depth interviews, and life histories of active and former gang members, interviews with policy makers and representatives of NGOs. In Washington: interviews with social workers and policy makers, and collected personal accounts from former gang members.

Now that you have relesed the study, what are the next steps?

The Transnacional network is now entering a second phase. We have identified at least three research goals: 1) Carry out studies in greater depth of the effect that the Mano Dura or Zero Tolerance policies have on the phenomenon, as well as the current judicial processes; 2) to analyse in greater detail how the migratory and deportation patterns affect maras behaviour; 3) to study the reasons why the maras have failed to boom in Nicaragua and Mexico, with an approach that stresses the role of the social fabric or social capital in these two nations, as compared with the north of Central America. In this last respect, we will analyse the role women and families play in the maras.

How to you propose to reach these objectives?

We will keep on working with various researchers and institutions that have been working with us from the start, such as the WOLA, the Washington Office for Latin America, the Central American University (Universidad Centroamericana), so as to stay in close touch with noteworthy iniciatives such as the Central American Coalition to Prevent Juvenile Violence (Coalición Centroamericana para Prevenir la Violencia Juvenil). The network was born as a project with multiple actors, it involves academic research, civil society and government representatives, that is how we generate the capability to exert influence so as to generate more effective policies for maras.

*All the photos were provided by the Network.

Translated by Lis Horta Moriconi
 

From Comunidad Segura:

Central America's Maras

Read Further:

Transnational Network website: (In Spanish) Red Transnacional de Análisis sobre Maras

Study Abstract (In Spanish) :Resumen ejecutivo de la investigación