Page 74 - History of War - Issue 29-16

BRIEFING

Hell

Salvador

El Salvador has experienced a brutalising journey
from crippling civil war, to becoming the homicide

capital of the world, but what are the roots of this
Central American nightmare?

WORDS MIGUEL MIRANDA
t’s impossible to escape the lush greenery the rest, so that destructive violence is the
of El Salvador’s towns and cities. Even only alternative for the deprived. Neither of
I the capital, devoid of a familiar skyline, is these explanations are adequate, however.
almost sheltered by trees as it pays homage The Salvadoran state is strong and secure –
to the ancient volcano it’s named after. The there aren’t any forces threatening its power.
surrounding jungle nearly encroaches on the The narcotraf ckers are in Mexico, while the
narrow streets where rows of casas are locked suppliers are in Colombia.
in pavement and inescapable penuriousness. El Salvador’s GDP-per-capita is higher than
This picturesque image is shattered when the most developing countries in Asia and its
bodies are found and the police arrive. There population has been growing year-on-year for
are many ways to die in El Salvador, many of half a century. Fledgling domestic industries
them at the hands of tattooed gang members exist and El Salvador weathered the global
from the maras. nancial crisis in 2008-09 thanks to prudent
In El Salvador the rift between Mara scal policies.
Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and Barrio 18 is a What it can’t escape from, isn’t its external
culture and lifestyle, albeit an abbreviated one. debt to multinational institutions or American
Their shadows reach into the overcrowded jails in uence, but the terrible heritage of its recent
and even beyond the nation’s borders. past. One of the most vicious civil wars in
The casualties produced by the maras are Latin America was fought in El Salvador from
staggering. Statistics reveal there is one 1980 until 1992. What it didn’t resolve was
homicide committed, on average, every hour. El Salvador’s curse; being a nation where the
The result is that tiny El Salvador – whose many serve the few.
borders appear to have been traced from It has now reached a point where Salvadoran
intersecting corners of Guatemala, Honduras, society is overcrowded, disenfranchised, and
and Nicaragua – is hell on Earth. How these near hopeless. The maras function as informal
infernal conditions came to exist is dif cult institutions for getting rid of young men and
to explain. It’s even more disturbing to women who would otherwise contribute nothing
acknowledge that the violence between MS-13 to society.
and Barrio 18 has neither an origin nor an
underlying cause. The coffee republic
This is its horror and its fascination. How can The story of El Salvador dates to the Pipil
scenic El Salvador be engulfed in uncontrollable Indians who migrated away from the declining
anarchy? There are sweeping generalisations, Mayan civilisation several centuries before
such as: the gangs are appendages to a the Spanish arrived. It was the pole-vaulting
regional narcotics trade and law and order conquistador, Pedro de Alvarado, who led
are poorly enforced. El Salvador is where the expeditions into Pipil lands in hopes of adding
one per cent has completely marginalised to his many domains. His prize was along the

LAND OF After years of campaigning, With the Spanish Empire in Believing there is strength
1524
1823
1821
PERPETUAL subjugate the Pipil Indians and disarray after the Napoleonic in unity, on 1 July the ruling
the Spanish Conquistadores
junta in Guatemala created
Wars, the former Latin
VIOLENCE Salvador. Arable land is divided American colonies secure their Central America combining
rename their dominion San
the Federal Republic of
independence. Several Central
into feudal encomiendas ruled American provinces prevail Costa Rica, Guatemala, Young victims of the Salvadoran Civil
War, shot in the increasing violence
by a manorial class. against Spain by force of arms. Honduras, and Nicaragua. leading up to the 1984 elections
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