El Salvador crime: 700 murders in one month as police become the prey for gangs
Video: Murders in the South American nation numbered 2,192 in the first five months of 2015
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In April, Wendy Yamileth Alfaro Mena, 27, became the first policewoman to be murdered in El Salvador. However, she was not the first police officer murdered nor the first person that month murdered. El Salvador's murder rate is one of the highest in the world.
Wendy Yamileth Alfaro Mena was shot 50 times by either the Mara Salvatrucha or the 18th Street gang, as criminals begin to treat police as prey rather than running scared from them.
A relative of Mena's, also a police officer, told Al Jazeera, “If you’re in the gangs and kill a police officer you move up the ranks. They left her in the street like a dog. As a woman, she paid the highest price."
A gang leader spoke with Al Jazeera and said that it was not the gangs who were the real culprits.
"The police are committing massacres, summary executions in El Salvador," he told the broadcaster, anonymously. "This is a push from the leftist government."
Most recently, the gangs have stepped up their violence in a tactic meant to pressure the government of President Salvador Sanchez Ceren to negotiate with them. The gangs want the administration to rein back its recent crackdown on gangs and for the president to secure better conditions for gang members currently in prison. The government is rejecting any dialogue with the gangs.
Murders in the country numbered 2,192 in the first five months of 2015.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments