1. Gangs in Guatemala and Honduras consider El Salvador style-truce

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    Gang members in El Salvador laid down some of their weapons this week, as part of a partial disarmament program.

    By MANUEL RUEDA 

    Drug gangs in Guatemala and Honduras are considering a truce that would be similar to the deal reached earlier this year, between the two biggest gangs in El Salvador, the AFP reports.

    On Wednesday one of the main brokers of the El Salvador truce spoke to the French news agency and said that a few weeks ago, he had held secret meetings with officials from Honduras, and separate talks with Guatemalan gang leaders.

    “We met some days ago with leaders of Guatemalan gangs. They wanted us to help them to begin a [peace] process.  But we told them that we couldn’t help them to set up a similar process, because each country has different characteristics,” Raúl Mijango told the AFP.

    Mijango, is a former guerrilla leader and former congressman, who has been one of the key figures in securing a controversial truce between Salvadorean gangs, Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18.

    Thanks to the truce, which began in March, homicides have fallen drastically in the Central American country, from 14 per day to under 5 per day according to official figures.

    However, the details of the truce have been shrouded in mystery and have sparked an intense debate between the Salvadorean government and its opponents.

    Critics of the government contend that gang leaders were paid large sums of money in order to stop fighting. They also contend that the government offered imprisoned gang leaders better prison conditions if they would tell their subordinates in the streets of El Salvador to stop killing each other.

    The government of El Salvador says it made no such deals, and adds that the truce was brokered independently by Raúl Mijango and Catholic Bishop Fabio Colindres. Shortly after the truce began, the Bishop said that gang leaders had agreed to the truce because they had a change of heart about violence and their role in the world. He also added that some gang leaders “converted” to Christianity.

    This week, Mijango said that he also spoke with security officers from Honduras, who wanted to know more about how El Salvador was solving a problem that previously “seemed to have no solution at all.”

    The former guerrilla leader urged officials in Honduras and gang leaders in Guatemala to find local facilitators who are not linked to the state but who are trusted by gangs and by the government.

    “That is how you can construct a credible peace process,” Mijango said.

    (Photo: flickr.com/Departamento de seguridad publica OEA)

     
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