HomeNewsAnalysisWeekly InSight: El Salvador's Dany Romero - Gang Leader, Activist, or Both?
ANALYSIS

Weekly InSight: El Salvador's Dany Romero - Gang Leader, Activist, or Both?

EL SALVADOR / 28 SEP 2017 BY INSIGHT CRIME EN

In our September 28 Facebook Live session, senior editor Mike LaSusa spoke with freelance journalist Nicholas Phillips about his recent investigation into the life of Dany Romero, and how Romero's story illustrates the complexities of determining who is a gang member in El Salvador.

The conversation opened with Phillips explaining how Dany Romero first got involved with the MS13 in El Salvador, and how he began advocating for gang members' rights while he was in prison for a murder that he says he didn't commit.

SEE ALSO: MS13 News and Profile

In addition to other aspects of the investigation, Phillips and LaSusa discussed Romero's rise to prominence in the international human rights community, as well as his designation as a gang leader by the US government and the charges subsequently brought against him in El Salvador, where he is now on trial.

Watch the full conversation below:

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BRAZIL / 25 NOV 2022

Failing prison systems and entrenched corruption mean mega-prisons holding tens of thousands won't solve insecurity in Latin America.

EL SALVADOR / 2 APR 2021

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has appointed a new security minister whose alleged ties to officials and political operators accused…

BOLIVIA / 8 MAR 2023

InSight Crime reviews Latin America and the Caribbean's cocaine seizure date from 2022 to find out what it reveals about…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…