'Attention to At-Risk Youth' Program Brings Truce to Gangs in Guadalajara Marguerite Cawley - InSight
go to original March 18, 2013

Rival street gangs in central Mexico have reportedly agreed to a government-brokered truce, an encouraging sign given the growing role of local street gangs in the country's violence.

In the city of Guadalajara, 12 competing street gangs have agreed to end inter-gang violence after participating in a government-run reintegration program that encourages cultural and artistic projects, reported El Occidental.

According to Guadalajara Secretary of Citizen Security Carlos Mercado, the gangs signed a peace accord among themselves after completing the Attention to At-Risk Youth (Atencion a Jovenes en Riesgo) program, which aims to encourage gang members to work on collective projects with their rivals.

However, when Milenio tracked down members of one of the gangs invovolved, the youths said they continued to fight and were unaware of the truce.

Guadalajara gangs included in the project thus far come from city neighborhoods Oblatos, El Zalate, Miravalle and Lomas del Paraiso, which are the city government's four priority areas for social development projects. There an estimated 200 gangs in Guadalajara.

Read the whole story at InSightCrime

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