EL SALVADOR: DEATH SQUADS TARGET STREET GANGS

(16 May 1995) Spanish/Nat Death squads are once again casting a dark shadow over El Salvador. This time their target is not political dissidents but members of street gangs. Peace has not brought an end to the killing in El Salvador. Death squads operate freely once again in this Central American nation. This time the victims are young Salvadorans and judges. During the civil war, death squads were the killing machines used to eliminate political dissidents. The war ended in 1992 but peace did not end the bloodshed. Since 1992, the incidence of crime has increased dramatically in El Salvador. Many attribute the rise in crime to street gangs who’ve imported tactics from U.S. gang members, particularly in Los Angeles. A death squad calling itself “La Sombra Negra“ (The Dark Shadow) has resurfaced in El Salvador. In a recent communique sent to local newspapers, Sombra Negra warned that since the Salvad