Exclusiva
The Headlines From Around Latin America and the Hispanic World
David Puente is the anchor for ABC News' "Exclusiva." He regularly reports on immigration and politics in Latin America and the Hispanic community in the U.S.
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THE GANGS - LAS MARAS
June 14, 2007 4:34 PM
You know that Los Angeles is widely known as home to some of the country's most violent street gangs. But did you know that Central America - Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador especially - is experiencing tough gang wars as well?
For years now, the L.A.gang culture has been exported to Latin America. In El Salvador, for example, gangsters deported from the U.S. are causing major problems. Many of those deported, initially immigrated to the US from Central America and became gang members here. Their involvement in criminal activity landed them in jail, then back to their country of origin. So the violent circle goes...Now to fight these gangs, police in El Salvador are swapping information on the gangs with the authorities in the United States.
This week a joint US-El Salvador initiative had dozens of the former gang members or - maras - as they are also called in Latin America, line up to have their once highly-prized tattoos removed. The United States donated one of the two high-tech machines that use a relatively painless laser, to fade the ink. The Salvadorian government hopes the tattoo removal initiative will be the final phase in the rehabilitation of former gang members. The former maras say the tattoos cause others to perceive them as criminals.
June 14, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0)
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