HomeNewsBriefEl Salvador Citizens Say Gangs, Not Government 'Rule' the Country
BRIEF

El Salvador Citizens Say Gangs, Not Government 'Rule' the Country

BARRIO 18 / 8 NOV 2017 BY PARKER ASMANN EN

Respondents to a recent survey in El Salvador were far more likely to believe that gangs -- not government officials -- "rule" the country, underscoring how the state's failure to establish a legitimate presence in many areas has left them under the control of criminal organizations.

A survey of 1,000 Salvadorans conducted by El Mundo between October 28 and November 1 showed that 42 percent of respondents believe gangs rule the country.

Gangs Rule ES Graphic

(Credit: El Mundo)

On the other hand, the survey found that just 12 percent believe the government is in control. Six percent answered that President Salvador Sánchez Cerén holds power, and only 3 percent said the same about the governing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional - FMLN) party. 

SEE ALSO: El Salvador News and Profiles

Moreover, the survey found that 61 percent of Salvadorans believe that insecurity remains the country's primary problem, and 81 percent believe that crime and insecurity have increased. 

As for the factors responsible for worsening crime and insecurity, 45 percent of Salvadorans pointed to the "poor performance of the government," while just 15 percent blamed the gangs and 6 percent blamed the National Police. 

InSight Crime Analysis 

For most of El Salvador's gangs, including the MS13 and Barrio 18, controlling territory is a fundamental aspect of their criminal enterprises. In addition to obtaining and maintaining this control through violence, a recent InSight Crime investigation uncovered how gangs also infiltrate local governments to gain power. The El Mundo survey shows that this phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by Salvadorans, who tend to blame their government for not getting the gangs under control.

SEE ALSO: Special Investigation of Gangs and Municipal Power in Apopa, El Salvador

El Salvador Police Chief Howard Cotto recently warned that gangs are continuing efforts to infiltrate local politics ahead of the country's March 2018 legislative and municipal elections. Cotto explained that gangs offer to secure votes for candidates or help bring down levels of violence in exchange for benefits such as reducing anti-gang security measures or providing jobs on the municipal payroll.

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

BARRIO 18 / 1 MAR 2022

Dozens of Barrio 18 members in El Salvador allegedly conspired with street vendors to divert pandemic relief funds.

EL SALVADOR / 3 OCT 2022

Extortion in the Northern Triangle is predominantly done from prisons, yet prison populations have been on the rise.

EL SALVADOR / 14 JUL 2022

A turnaround in El Salvador’s position on extraditing gang members has come amid US pressure and rumblings in the criminal…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…