Gangs target gay men to traffic drugs central america

Children are highly vulnerable to gang recruitment for several activities, such as: fee collectors, lookouts, drug distributors, and hit men. What are the differences, if any, on how the gangs commit these crimes in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador?

Gangs have evolved into formidable criminal organizations, exerting control over specific territories and engaging in a wide range of illicit activities, which pose significant threats to the region's stability and security. Guatemala is the last country where Central American migrants can freely transit without needing an immigration permit.

After crossing the Guatemala-Mexico border, migrants start avoiding authorities. The culture of gangs in Central America has prevailed for decades and their influence in societies is noteworthy. These perceptions about the growth and seriousness of the problem are fed by frequently sensationalized and unfounded reports of the transnational spread of youth gang violence, and of ties between gangs and organized crime such as narco-traffic, terrorism, human trafficking and arms dealing.

The first crossing point is the area of El Ceibo, neighboring the Mexican state of Tabasco. Along with weak economies growth, low labor opportunities, government corruption and poor social tissue, one of the strongest reasons forcing Central Americans to leave their countries of origin is the presence of the gangs.

In the last couple of years, Central America has become a key place in the drug distribution chain due to its high levels of corruption and impunity.

Central American Gangs and

People from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, are free to move from one of these four countries to the other without any additional visa requirements as a result from this agreement, also known as the CA However, after the crisis of an unprecedented arrival of unaccompanied Central American minors to the United States inthere has been a strengthening of checkpoints along the Central American borders to ensure no child is traveling alone or without a parent.

This working paper discusses the complex violence dynamics in northern Central America and argues that a chronic deficiency in data, weak rule of law, and impunity exacerbate insecurity in these countries. In the Northern Triangle countries, cases of human trafficking were found in all three countries.

Alongside repatriated Guatemalans, Guatemala also receives many deported Salvadoran and Honduran migrants. Guatemala also has a high influx of migrants. Guatemala is a country of origin, transit and destination of migrants as well as of labor and sex trafficking victims.

The availability of illicit arms contributes to high homicide rates at the country and regional levels, including drug-related killings Illicit weapons are also used as an instrument for widespread extortion in Central America, especially by criminal gangs.

Central America has gained notoriety for its exceptionally high levels of gang violence, particularly in countries like El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Victims were mostly trafficked within their country of origin. All countries share push factors forcing their populations to migrate.

Central America Forced Criminal

Migrants look for isolated blind spots, often jungles, along the border to enter Mexico undetected. Aside from Guatemalan nationals deported back to the country, migrants from other Central America countries are often deported back to Guatemala.

Human trafficking in the form of forced labor for criminal activities is highly present in the Northern Triangle countries. The Border Control Agreement of allows for a fairly simple moving process throughout Central America. In recent years, severe economic problems, violence, weak state institutions, and successive natural disasters have led to unprecedented emigration.

Experts identified two spots as the most highly transited points of entrance. These push factors have had a longstanding manifestation for decades in these countries. It is worth mentioning that Guatemala, being country closer to Mexico and with a higher concentration of migrants waiting to cross the border, was identified as the only Central American country with foreign victims of human trafficking in the form of sexual exploitation.

The existing gangs, with higher presence in the capital cities, have led to the recruitment of citizens for the gangs. The migrant route analyzed for this project starts in one of the three countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

The migrant community in the country is comprised of foreigners trying to reach the United States for the first time as well as repatriated migrants attempting the journey again. Human trafficking for sexual exploitation was found only in Guatemala.

The instability of these failing Latin American states creates the perfect environment for drug trafficking groups to thrive. Migration experts deem the Guatemala-Mexico border to be highly porous.