El Salvador Sees Huge Spike In Murders
El Salvador is an increasingly dangerous place to live post-civil war. So dangerous in fact that murders have increased by 9.3 percent from 2009 through 2011.
According to a recent study 4,308 people out of 6.1 million were killed in the country in 2011, up from 4,223 murders in 2009.
The record number of murders in 2011 comes as the country continues to struggle with post-civil war life. In fact El Salvador currently has one of the highest murder rates in the world because of a brutal gang culture that claims the lives of 12 people each day while many more are killed and injured during armed robbery attempts.
According to state records there is believed to be 18,000 gang members in the country, members who extort money from traders and transport companies while other organized crime groups traffic drugs, weapons and even people.
The countries officials in the meantime are attempting to lessen gang violence, having already dismantled 297 different gangs including 124 that belongs to the Mara Salvatrucha cartel. They have also sent 4,000-strong troops into the streets as added reinforcement for police who were struggling with gang violence, corruption and other issues.
The countries civil war ended in 1992 after a 12-year battle rang out throughout the country, during that time 75,000 people were killed and 7,000 more went missing with no sign of return.
The countries problems worsen when you consider that many more El Salvadorian gang members who learn tactics on the streets of U.S. cities are deported once caught performing illegal crimes, sending them home with new gang related lessons and a thirst for more than riches a typical El Salvadorian life can provide.
[Image via ES James / Shutterstock.com]
