El Salvador

El Salvador is the spiritual homeland of Central America’s most notorious street gangs – the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18. For years, these gangs terrorized poor urban neighborhoods across the country, but they appear to have been largely dismantled following a brutal and controversial government crackdown that has seen over 1.5% of El Salvador’s population jailed for alleged gang ties since early 2022. Read full profile