Government Responses to Gang Power. From Truce to War on Gangs in El Salvador.

Abstract

This article reflects on the challenges that governments face in dealing with illicit armed groups that have built up local power positions. It analyses an accommodating government response (a local truce) to gangs in the town of Nueva Concepción, El Salvador, and its aftermath that was characterised by a renewed crackdown on them. These responses did not manage to break gang power. While the local truce had led to some modifications in gang use of violence and the degree and forms of extortion they used, the ‘war on gangs’ that followed the local gang truce had a more disruptive effect, as it was not able to stop or break their control. The paper shows that different responses can take place simultaneously, affecting each other in intended and unintended ways. Recognizing the profound contestation about the ‘right policy mix’ in situations where state power is violently challenged, it also discusses some of the challenges and possibilities to combine accommodating, repressive and preventive approaches.