Transnational and local entanglements in the ‘cycle of violence’ of Central American migration

Northern triangle and Mexican news media perspectives on the migration crisis: strategic narrative and the identification of good action

“…Lacking the legal infrastructure to manage cases and lacking resources to attempt gradual re-incorporation of returning migrants into their societies, the already fragile political systems of Northern Triangle countries had little to offer returning migrants to detract from established gang identity. Further, Northern Triangle countries had little to offer their populations as the maras, US-based gangs like MS-13 and M-18, began to assert their influence and begin battling one another for control (Menjívar & Cervantes, 2019;Rivera, 2018).…”

“…The ensuing turf wars among the newly organized rival gangs unleashed dramatic waves of violence on domestic populations across Central America. The maras began reshaping territory they controlled, often ensnaring politicians, businesses, and local leaders alike in attempts to expand (Menjívar & Cervantes, 2019;Rivera, 2018). Reacting to the abrupt power-grabs among the warring gangs, state governments of the Northern Triangle developed a counter-measure regional policy towards the gangs known as 'mano dura', or hard-hand.…”

“…This 'hard hand' crackdown on gang-members put thousands in prisons, including mere associates of gang activities and those ensnared by their extortive practices. The mano dura policy has been criticized for serving only to further strengthen gang identities, organization strategy, and, worst of all, altered the nature of the gangs toward their controlled 'turf' territories (Rivera, 2018). Maras, whose previous practices of expansion had largely protected domestic populations from rivals, began instead to target the public who lived on their turf with extortion, threats of death, and general terror in order to create a submissive domain of operation (Rivera, 2018;Soto et al, 2018).…”

“…In order to accomplish this, researchers employed a mixed-method research design including quantitative content analysis and qualitative narrative analysis on categories identified in literature as relevant to NT & Mexican narratives of migration, including discussions of violence, institutional failures, incentives for migration, characterization of migrants, the path of migration, and the role of state policy, including US policy actions (Menjívar & Cervantes, 2019;Rivera, 2018;Soto et al, 2018). The process helps statistically validate the presence of relevant narrative elements identifying migrants' motivations.…”

Desplazamiento forzado por violencia y crimen: Análisis de su evolución y tendencias emergentes en la investigación.

“…Las cifras sobre el desplazamiento forzado son alarmantes por lo tanto, existen estudios que analizan este tipo de eventos en distintos contextos y regiones alrededor del mundo (Gutiérrez, 2018;Fajth, Bilgili, Loschmann y Siegel, 2019;Rosenberg, 2019;y Lichtenheld, 2020). Estas publicaciones representan esfuerzos en la búsqueda de documentar las experiencias trágicas de las personas que se han desplazado a consecuencia de los distintos factores que los hicieron tomar esta decisión.…”