El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world. Violent street gangs known as Maras plague the country. A corrupt government holds control of a poor country, letting these gangs roam the streets. They are unable and most likely unwilling to control these dangerous people. They accept pay offs and regularly look the other way when situations arise.
A lot of third world countries see violence and many corrupt governments try to silence the media from shining light on what is going on. For El Salvador this is not the case. The government has nothing very little to do with the violence against the media, here, in this tiny Central American country the Maras are looking to keep the media at bay.
All over the world journalists often see violence towards them. They worry about being kidnapped, tortured or murdered. In El Salvador they must worry about these things also. Many reporters and investigative journalists have put focus on the gang violence that ravages this country and because of this they are being targeted by the gangs.
“The staff of the San Salvador-based online newspaper El Faro are very worried about the threats they have been receiving in connection with a series of stories about El Salvador’s feared criminal gangs, known as Maras.” Reporters Without Borders
The harassment started after the publication of articles about the connections between the gangs and local businessmen. Earlier this year gang member Marco Antonio Landaverde was arrested do to violent threats he made aganist journalists who were covering the court case of a fellow Maras.
“ El Faro published an investigation entitled “Government negotiated with gangs for reduction of homicides” which reported an alleged agreement under which, in exchange for relocating the leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs from maximum-security prisons to other jails, the number of murders in the country would be reduced.” International Press Institute
Obviously they are hoping that if they make an example out of one source others will be fearful to follow in their footsteps. However this is unlikely to deter other reporters from going ahead with the story if anything it may bring even more scrutiny for these gangs. If they start torturing or murdering journalists this will only bring more of them in to investigate and report.
It is also very apparent that the government has little to no control over the gangs and they have no ability to stop these threats from becoming a reality. The attempts being made to quell the start of violent retaliation are appreciated but certainly not the end of the problems.