Pacification or Escalation in El Salvador’s Gang Territories?

Wolf, Sonja

doi:10.1080/10714839.2017.1373947

“…Influential studies discussed the gangs and their impact on security [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Other researchers focused on the responses by different governments and the politicization of security that followed the construction of a security narrative in El Salvador [19][20][21][22]. Some studies also focused on the role of the elites and the economic and political processes in the construction of a weak democracy and a failed state of security for the majority of the people [23][24][25].…”

Section: A Short Note On the Limits To Existing Gender And Security Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the creation of a new enemy, and the re-introduction of a war-like paradigm of security to combat the enemy. In this context, it proved to be easy to justify immediate responses, even those using violent means, to a society that was long used to violence and tired of insecurity [21]. The military was once more brought into the public security sphere.…”

Section: War Against Gangsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gendered Nature of Security in El Salvador: Challenges for Community-Oriented Policing

Ospina¹

2020

Journal of Human Security

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With the purge of the Military Forces and the creation of a new National Civilian Police (PNC) as mandated by the 1992 Peace Accords, El Salvador set the stage for the construction of a less state-oriented security approach. However, a failure to question issues of security and a lack of consideration of gender in the Peace negotiations and the Security Reform resulted in an overly gendered understanding of security, were the State remained as its subject and the practice privileged a militarized masculinity that has hindered the implementation of democratic policing. In this context, 25 years after the Peace Accords, the police have been unable to consolidate a democratic policing practice as oppressive policing strategies remain deeply embedded in the institution, side-by-side with heavy-handed measures that use repression to control social violence. From a feminist critical security approach, the article questions the gendered nature of security in El Salvador, and investigates the implication of the introduction of militaries into the work of the police, in terms of its symbolic influence in the gendered expectations of police men and women, and the practical impact it has on their work, e.g., the difficulty of consolidating Community-Oriented Policing. The argument is based on interviews and focus groups with police men and women, as well as with feminist organizations. The information was gathered during fieldwork in 2018 and 2019, and through extensive literature review.

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“…Influential studies discussed the gangs and their impact on security [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Other researchers focused on the responses by different governments and the politicization of security that followed the construction of a security narrative in El Salvador [19][20][21][22]. Some studies also focused on the role of the elites and the economic and political processes in the construction of a weak democracy and a failed state of security for the majority of the people [23][24][25].…”

Section: A Short Note On the Limits To Existing Gender And Security Research In El Salvadormentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gendered Nature of Security in El Salvador: Challenges for Community-Oriented Policing

Ospina

¹

2020

Journal of Human Security

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With the purge of the Military Forces and the creation of a new National Civilian Police (PNC) as mandated by the 1992 Peace Accords, El Salvador set the stage for the construction of a less state-oriented security approach. However, a failure to question issues of security and a lack of consideration of gender in the Peace negotiations and the Security Reform resulted in an overly gendered understanding of security, were the State remained as its subject and the practice privileged a militarized masculinity that has hindered the implementation of democratic policing. In this context, 25 years after the Peace Accords, the police have been unable to consolidate a democratic policing practice as oppressive policing strategies remain deeply embedded in the institution, side-by-side with heavy-handed measures that use repression to control social violence. From a feminist critical security approach, the article questions the gendered nature of security in El Salvador, and investigates the implication of the introduction of militaries into the work of the police, in terms of its symbolic influence in the gendered expectations of police men and women, and the practical impact it has on their work, e.g., the difficulty of consolidating Community-Oriented Policing. The argument is based on interviews and focus groups with police men and women, as well as with feminist organizations. The information was gathered during fieldwork in 2018 and 2019, and through extensive literature review.

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“…Además, los aspectos innovadores de la estrategia del FMLN requerían dinero que el Estado no tenía, en parte porque la derecha había frustrado con éxito la reforma fiscal progresista. En ese contexto, el gobierno volvió a duplicar el enfoque represivo (Wolf, 2017b). Cuando Sánchez Cerén concluyó su mandato, de hecho, hubo una gran disminución en la tasa de homicidios desde 2015 (Barrera, 2018).…”

Section: Maras Y Crimen Organizadounclassified

El FMLN de El Salvador y las restricciones sobre el gobierno de izquierda

Young

¹

2020

Cuadernos Inter.c.a.mbio

1

0

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Los acuerdos de paz de 1992 en El Salvador trajeron una versión superficial de la democracia que seguía sin responder en gran medida a la población. En el 2009, el partido de oposición de izquierda, el FMLN, ganó las elecciones presidenciales. Sin embargo, a pesar de ganar algunas reformas progresivas notables, no buscó, ni mucho menos logró, una ruptura radical de las políticas neoliberales de las administraciones anteriores. Con base en entrevistas personales y una revisión de fuentes periodísticas, encuestas, estudios académicos e informes oficiales y no gubernamentales, sostengo que el alejamiento del FMLN del socialismo revolucionario es atribuible a varios factores: un terreno político y mediático que todavía favorece a la derecha, la influencia continua del gobierno de los Estados Unidos y el control de los inversionistas privados sobre la economía. Estas fuerzas también ayudan a entender las limitaciones de gobiernos progresistas en otros países.

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Pacification or Escalation in El Salvador’s Gang Territories?

Cited by 6 publications

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The Gendered Nature of Security in El Salvador: Challenges for Community-Oriented Policing

The Gendered Nature of Security in El Salvador: Challenges for Community-Oriented Policing

The Gendered Nature of Security in El Salvador: Challenges for Community-Oriented Policing

El FMLN de El Salvador y las restricciones sobre el gobierno de izquierda

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