In the Graduate Institute’s latest ePaper, Antonia Does, a recent graduate from the Institute, unveils the motivations behind the heavy-handed crackdowns on youth gangs perpetrated by the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as an attempt to win votes and to restore their authority and legitimacy over their respective countries. By studying the phenomenon through securitization theory, Does allows for a new understanding of the construction of these gangs and reveals a blurred line between the political and security sectors.
 
El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala currently experience one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with violence levels comparable to or even exceeding those seen during recent armed conflicts such as in Iraq, Somalia or Sudan. According to national politicians and media, most of the violence and criminal activities is to be blamed on young men who band together as gangs – the so-called maras.

This, Does argues, is a conscious exploitation of a culture of fear and feelings of insecurity among the citizens to justify hardline policies that disregard the civil liberties and the human rights of suspects. Such short-term approaches as mass incarcerations may be able to respond to the public’s demand for security, but fail to tackle the social and economic roots of the maras in the long run.

The author’s case studies are concerned with Mara Salvatrucha and Mara Dieciocho, the two principal gangs who gather tens of thousands of members involved in criminal activities across North and Central America.

Antonia Does holds a Master's degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and is currently working for the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

The Construction of the Maras: Between Politicization and Securitization is available in open access online.