What is the origin of gang violence in Latin America?

Murder, rape and mutilations are common crimes in Latin America, considered one of the most violent areas in the world today. Is the violence a legacy of the ... Latin America's history of violence. Murder, rape and ... Members of the Mara-18 gang behind bars in El Salvador. read more

“That remains the case today. Latin America has the highest rate of criminal violence in the world.”. That, she said, is mainly due to organized crime and gangs. “Many murders in Latin Americas are gang-related unlike in Europe and Asia where homicide is tied to inter-personal violence,” Me said. read more

Latin American (Colombians, Cubans, Dominicans, Ecuadorians, Panamanians, Puetro Ricans, and others) would later populate the gang landscape (Miller, 2001, p. 43). Native-American gangs also would emerge, but much later (Conway, 1998). The internal migration of the blacks mainly fueled the emergence of another distinct wave of gang activity. read more

Gang members used these distinguishing characteristics to demonstrate gang allegiance, strengthen gang participation, and challenge rival gangs. African American Gang History: African American gangs began forming in California during the 1920s. They were not territorial; rather, they were loose associations, unorganized, and rarely violent. read more