The flood of deported gang members from Los Angeles and other U.S. inner cities to El Salvador and the rest of Central America fuels a gang problem of epidemic proportions. Gangs existed well before the repatriations, but with the end of the civil wars, the importation of U.S. gang structures and practices ensures their proliferation and entrenchment.
Transnational problems require equally transnational solutions. Homies Unidos exemplifies this strategy with their projects in San Salvador and Los Angeles. A recent press release by Homies, addressing the responses of Central American governments to youth violence, states, “The organization’s mission is to address gang violence on an international level through advocacy, action, public awareness and a focus on prevention and intervention.” “Homies seeks policies that work toward rehabilitation and reintegration of poor youth rather than result in the violation of their human rights,” adds Rocio Santacruz, who directs their international human rights campaign.
Founded in 1996 by 22 youth from different gangs in El Salvador, Homies has developed an impressive international reach, yet their projects also focus on community building at the local level. The bulk of their work combines alternative education, leadership development, self-esteem building and health education programs. The criminalization of youth by heavy-handed policing and authoritarian legislation has forced them to seek creative solutions to potentially devastating problems.
The implementation of the Mano Dura (Heavy Hand) model—aggressive, zero tolerance anti-gang measures—throughout Central America has severely aggravated violence against, and the criminalization of, youth. The measures make gang membership illegal, allowing police to detain people only suspected of belonging to a gang. Rehabilitated gang members are often arrested, because their visible tattoos make them indistinguishable from active members in the eyes of police. In response, Homies has initiated a weekly tattoo removal program in partnership with local health clinics. To be admitted into the program, participants are required to attend a ten-week alternative education program with a curriculum that includes, among other things, anger management, drug and alcohol education, and life skills development sessions. Homies also provides free classes to “anyone, young or old” interested in taking their high school diploma equivalency exam.
As former gang members, the staff at Homies Unidos is acutely aware of the causes of, and potential solutions to, youth violence and gang membership. The art program is one of their most successful projects. Participants are exposed to forms of alternative expression through workshops, lectures and fieldtrips. They also learn how powerful art can be as an educational tool. Since many of the deportees to El Salvador are almost wholly unfamiliar with their native country, Homies tries to ease their transition. The organization facilitates communication between deportees in El Salvador and their families in the United States. “Strong families are key to violence prevention. Working to build mutual understanding between families and gang members we enlist support from families for their children’s struggle to embrace a life without violence,” says their Web site www.homiesunidos.org.
“We recognize that within gang structures there exists delinquency, organized crime, drugs and other negative factors, but we at Homies Unidos also recognize the untapped potential of youth that become involved with gangs. We understand that gangs exist not because youth are delinquent, but rather because civil society and communities lack in resources.”
About the Author:
Teo Ballvé is NACLA’s associate editor and contributing news editor for the Resource Center of the Americas www.americas.org.
