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GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala passed a new anti-gang law on
Tuesday aimed at giving the government more resources to fight
the groups, which are now considered terrorist organizations.
The law designates the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs as
terrorist groups, increases prison sentences for gang members
convicted of crimes, and orders the construction of a new prison
for gang members.
The legislation, which had been in limbo for years, gained
momentum following the escape of 20 members of Barrio 18 from a
prison earlier this month. That security failure led President
Bernardo Arévalo to accept the resignations of three top
security officials last week.
On Tuesday, before the legislation passed, Arévalo said the
escape had been a coordinated plot by the gang, which was
frustrated by steps his then-Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez
was taking to toughen conditions for them in prison.
Also Tuesday, police said that a fourth gang member who escaped
with the group had been recaptured.
In September, the Trump administration designated Barrio 18 as a
foreign terrorist organization, something it had already done
with Mara Salvatrucha.
Guatemala's neighbor El Salvador has successfully decimated the
gangs in its territory, but has done so by suspending some
fundamental rights under a more than three-year state of
emergency and putting more than 80,000 people into prison.
Still, its security success has drawn the attention of other
leaders in the region and increased calls from their
constituents for tougher measures against gangs.
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