El siguiente email que recibi de nuestro consular general: es para todos los Salvadorenos que se encuentren en Australia:
Estimados Compatriotas y Amigos:
Nuestro país ha sido golpeado duramente por la tormenta tropical “Ida” y dado los graves impactos humanos y a la infraestructura ocasionada por las lluvias producidas por el paso de este huracán en El Salvador se decretó Estado de Emergencia Nacional. Ante esta difícil situación muchos compatriotas se han organizado para colaborar con las victimas de esta tragedia y en la etapa de reconstrucción y para ello, a raíz de este noble interés se conformó un Comité de Emergencia de Salvadoreños en Melbourne integrado por diversas asociaciones y personas particulares que de manera desinteresada estarán trabajando de forma conjunta y coordinada con el Consulado General de El Salvador organizando diversas actividades.
En estos momentos más que nunca El Salvador necesita de toda la ayuda que se le pueda ofrecer y les hacemos un llamado a que apoyen desde donde se encuentren las actividades que se realicen a favor de los damnificados de Ida – El Salvador:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXLpoQTpWfE&feature=player_embedded#
Anticipadamente les agradecemos el apoyo que puedan prestar a todas estas gestiones en beneficio de las personas que están necesitando de nuestra ayuda en El Salvador. Si desean colaborar en alguna de estas actividades pueden comunicarse al Consulado General o bien hacerlo participando en los eventos que se lleven acabo, haciendo circular este correo electrónico y también les informamos que se encuentra abierta una cuenta en la cual pueden hacer donativos en efectivo:
CUENTA BANCARIA
Consulado General de El Salvador
Ayuda a damnificados
Emergencia Huracán Ida
Banco Westpac
BSB 033165
Cuenta Número 254894
EVENTOS BENEFICOS
Domingo, 13 de Diciembre: gran evento y fiesta bailable benéfica organizada por el Comité de Emergencia en el Glengala Community Centre, Simmie Street y Glengala Road, Sunshine de la 1:00PM a las 10:00PM. Con la participación de bandas musicales, mariachi, bailes folklóricos y otras animaciones. Entrada $20.00 todos los fondos recaudados se canalizaran oficialmente a las victimas. Mayor información en el Consulado General (03)9686 9151
Sábado, 19 de diciembre: Fiesta Navideña en Elio’s Bar, 770 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy con Banda Fuego. $35.00 ($10.00 serán donados a los trabajos de FUNDECOM en San Vicente). Mayor información: 0412 943 648
Domingo, 20 de diciembre: Partido de futbol 26A Wardale Road, Sprigvale South. 12PM en adelante 2 partidos amistosos. Mayor información: 0403 008 227
Al apelar a su sentido solidario y generosidad en estas difíciles circunstancias les enviamos nuestros más atentos saludos y agradecimiento por la ayuda que puedan brindar.
Mauricio Mena
Cónsul General
Consulado General de El Salvador
Level 7, 20-22 Albert Road
South Melbourne 3205, VIC
Australia
TEL 61-3-96869151
FAX 61-3-96865994
mauriciomena@rree.gob.sv
The new war that El Salvador faces is that of gang violence. The rising amount of youth that are joining up to these so called “families” is alarming. Most documentary makers that have had the guts to enter into that particular war zone in El Salvador have time and time again heard from the horse’s mouth the reason for why so many of the youth of El Salvador join these gangs. The primary reason is that they are looking for a family. They are looking to be accepted, loved and cared for.
Many of the kids who join these gangs have either lost a parent, in particular their father, or their parents are illegally living and working in the USA. Many of these kids for one reason or another run away from the family who were looking after them while their parents left to seek a better life in the US.
The irony is that the parents took risks to illegally enter the US to work and make money to better the life of their families back in El Salvador and their children are the ones who now are making hell on earth both in the US and in El Salvador.
The gang members are often far too uneducated, backward thinking and so entrenched in their erroneous belief that somehow gang violence and activities is going to better their life and El Salvador’s. These gangs do not realise that all their activity and action is doing is impeding economic growth and causing a brain drain on the country. Gang members often do not think of the cause and effect of their actions. The gang mentality is a mentality of cyclical revenge and it can only end in death.
Many gang members claim that they want respect, they do not want to be oppressed, they want to have money and power. They don’t realise that their way is the wrong way; their way will never bring them to a place of peace and prosperity. Most of these gang members are nothing but drug addicts, drug sellers and murderers. These gangs are large and well organised but they never reach the heights of life that they aspire to live, or if they do its short lived because they too are killed.
How did MS13 and 18 Street get to El Salvador? The answer is easy: deportation from the US. In the video below “killing to belong” gang members cite “white oppression on Hispanics” as the reason why their gangs started. Entire families illegally entered the US over the past decades running away from poverty and desperation only to find life in the US worse as they were no longer in their homeland. Their children have little education; their children fall into the wrong company and adopt the bitterness and hatefulness of those that preceded them in the gangs. More often than not the gang members have no real idea why they truly feel all that hate and anger, its usually because they are just told “that’s how this gang works” and that’s it. When these young people and adults are caught committing crimes in the US the US government in the 90’s adopted the easy solution of getting rid of the problem by transfer it somewhere else… El Salvador. Now this problem has rapidly spread not only in the US but into other central American countries.
There have been many methods tried and tested in El Salvador to try and eliminate gang violence. None have yet to be proven as fruitful as what is known as ‘sombra negra’. The term ‘sombra negra’ translates to black shadow. The Sombra Negra were death squad groups that emerged in the 1990’s who target criminals and gang members for vigilante justice. The gangs emerged in greater number after the US deported large numbers of criminals and gang members and upon arriving in El Salvador were deemed to be free men. At the risk of sounding like I am lowering myself to the gang member’s standard I will admit that this has been the only known effective method that has in the past controlled the aggravated violence perpetrated by these street gangs. Other anti-gang policies failed to even make a dent into the problem.
In the 90’s and early 00’s the governments of central America and El Salvador tried to introduced the unsubstantial plans of ‘Mano Dura’ and ‘Super Mano Dura’ or Iron Fist and Super Iron fist plans. These plans had all fairies and lights but not guts and did little to curb gang violence and activities. Perhaps sombra negra is the answer, for now.
A great article on El Salvador’s gangs is located here.
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Posted in My 2 cents worth | Tags: 18 street, america central, amistad, amor, blog, blog surfers us, calle 18, central america, central american politics, commentario, condron, crimen el salvador, el salvador, el salvador gangs, familia, family, friendship, gangs, gobierno el salvador, hispanic, historias, history, killing to belong, latin america, latino, love, maras, maras el salvador, mauricio funes, ms13, news, noticias, noticieros el salvador, opinion politica, opinions, peace, pensamientos, personal, photography, politics, san salvador, thoughts, travel, violence in el salvador, war, world politics