Central Americans Fear an Onslaught of Criminal Returnees from the U.S. Barnard R. Thompson - MexiData.info
go to original November 28, 2016

Extreme tattoos are commonplace among Central American gang members (Getty Images)

Since long before the November 8 election of Donald Trump as president, concerns have been expressed night and day regarding undocumented immigrants (aka "illegal aliens") residing in the U.S., most recently singling out gangsters labeled as the "criminal alien population" by the U.S. government. And too, there is anxiousness regarding the anticipated arrival of future work-seeking and refugee emigrants fleeing south of the border nations.

These concerns vented in the U.S., yet too commentary and counter-criticisms have come from south of the border with respect to migrants, the undocumented, and future obstacles rising to prevent the unauthorized cross-border transit of people and contraband.

In Central America, however – aside from losing the socioeconomic (and political) "escape valve" like Mexico has so long enjoyed by exporting workers to the U.S., there are added critical worries. Concerns with respect to not only how to absorb the influx of returning nationals – but too who those returnees may be, and how might many of them worsen not just unemployment and poverty, but too already rampant crime and violence.

El Salvador, the small Pacific coastal nation wedged between Guatemala and Honduras, earlier this year was labeled the "murder capital of the world" by the government's Instituto de Medicina Legal. This largely due to gang violence, led by the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street gangs that were named terrorist organizations by the El Salvador Supreme Court in 2015.

The Los Angeles Times put it this way on March 2, 2016 (excerpts): "It's official. El Salvador is the world's most violent country and its capital, San Salvador, is the world's most homicidal city. Salvadoran cities have seen more blood spilled than most conflict zones. They are also hemorrhaging people, many of whom are fleeing to Mexico and the United States.

"Complicating matters, El Salvador's main gangs – the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street – are coming apart at the seams. Not only are they at war with the police and with one another, but each is also waging a civil war within its own ranks. With the gangs purging and punishing 'traitors' and 'snitches,' the bloodletting shows little sign of abating, and it's spreading to neighboring Honduras and Guatemala. …"

All of which is terrifying to most Salvadorans, and now their anxieties have been exacerbated with the election of Donald Trump as President of the U.S., seen by many as a presage to yet greater dangers. And not just due to emigrant and refugee access to the U.S. being impeded or prevented, but too because of who may be coming back to El Salvador.

Read the rest at MexiData.info

Barnard Thompson, editor of MexiData.info, has spent more than 50 years in Mexico and Latin America providing multinational clients with in-depth information as well as actionable intelligence; country and political risk reporting and analysis; plus professional, lobbying and problem resolution services.

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