From Fear to Fragile Peace: Life After MS-13 in El Salvador’s 10 de Octubre Neighborhood
Esperanza Martinez has endured unimaginable loss, having lost three family members to murder and witnessing countless bodies left in the streets of her neighborhood, which was once a stronghold for the infamous MS-13 street gang in El Salvador.
While she has lived more peacefully lately, she remains on alert: gang members are “hidden, but still there,” she whispered.
The 10 de Octubre neighborhood in San Marcos, close to the Salvadoran capital, has seen a remarkable transformation over the past three years. This change comes in the wake of President Nayib Bukele’s aggressive campaign against gangs, which had turned the Central American country into one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Today, during lunchtime, the market comes alive with buyers bustling around the stalls, a motorcyclist zips by making food deliveries, and a woman is perched in the back of a beat-up pickup truck, selling slushies.
It’s hard to believe this scene is happening now, especially when just a few years ago, the vast areas of El Salvador were strictly off-limits to outsiders, dominated by the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and their rivals, Barrio 18.
“Many people entered here and never left. I saw dead people lying there, shot or stabbed. There’s a clandestine cemetery on the hill,” said Martinez, who has spent 34 of her 65 years in the neighborhood.
Law-abiding residents had to lock themselves indoors at night, she recalled.
Her 12-year-old niece was murdered for refusing to become a gang member, her mother suffered the same fate for trying to defend her, and her sister’s husband was killed for not paying an extortion demand.
One of Martinez’s three daughters emigrated to the United States at the age of 17 to escape death threats.
–Murals replace graffiti –
The 10 de Octubre neighborhood used to be under the control of Elmer Canales Rivera, known as the “Hollywood Crook,” who was one of the leaders of MS-13 and is currently in the United States waiting for his trial.
The walls that once bore “MS” or “Hollywood” graffiti have now transformed into vibrant murals featuring balloons, butterflies, and colorful flowers.
A large “N” set against a sky-blue backdrop symbolizes both Bukele, by his first name, and his New Ideas party.
This neighborhood is one of 11 areas that Bukele has placed under military protection following the state of emergency declared in March 2022, which resulted in the arrest of 87,000 individuals without the need for warrants.
“We will flush out every last hidden terrorist,” the president recently promised as his security forces surrounded a district on the outskirts of San Salvador where officials said gang members were trying to regroup.
While there’s a chance that gangs could make a comeback, this display of strength also shows Bukele’s ambition to maintain “an important public role,” according to Jose Miguel Cruz, a Salvadoran gang expert at Florida International University.
Bukele, who kicked off his second presidential term in June 2024, dismisses claims of authoritarianism and insists he has transformed El Salvador into “the safest country in the world.”
His tough stance on criminal organizations has resulted in a significant drop in the homicide rate, earning him popularity among the locals.
However, human rights groups have raised concerns about his tactics.
Organizations like Amnesty International and local NGOs such as Cristosal and Socorro Juridico have condemned arbitrary arrests, instances of torture, the deaths of around 400 inmates, and the jailing of thousands of innocent individuals.
It’s a subject that people in the 10 de Octubre neighborhood prefer to avoid.
-‘A little peace‘ –
At a roundabout where buses come and go, Carlos Sanchez, a 48-year-old car washer, shared a word of caution: “We can’t afford to be careless.”
“Right now, things are a bit calm, but there are still remnants of gangs lurking in the hills,” he added.
“One day, they stabbed a young man to death in a minibus. They wanted to kill my two daughters too because they refused to cooperate. Many complied for fear of reprisals. They used children as lookouts,” Sanchez said.
Gangsters would often force families out of their homes at gunpoint.
“They wanted to take mine, but I managed to talk them out of it,” Antonia Alfaro, 67, said in her small home.
“Some are still hanging around, but I have nowhere else to go.”
From Fear to Fragile Peace: Life After MS-13 in El Salvador’s 10 de Octubre Neighborhood
