In our August 17 Facebook Live session, Senior Investigator Héctor Silva Ávalos and Senior Editor Mike LaSusa spoke about a trial related to El Salvador’s controversial gang truce that has spotlighted close ties between gangs and politics in the Central American country.

Silva and LaSusa discussed how the revelations at the trial have further exposed the deep ties between gangs and politicians in El Salvador, even as successive governments have blamed the gangs for virtually all of the country’s problems. They also discussed the impacts that the truce itself had on El Salvador’s criminal landscape, and how the prosecution of various figures tied to the contentious policy does not necessarily signify a significant step toward breaking the ties between gangs and the state.

Watch the Facebook Live broadcast for the full conversation: