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NeonHowler t1_j6bygsu wrote

Reply to comment by Serverpolice001 in El Salvador: Leaked Database Points to Large-Scale Abuses by 38384

These gangs literally originated from California. The war sent them to California and gang violence forced them to form their own gangs to protect themselves. Yes, the US made them hardened in the methods of organized crime.

When they were deported they brought their lifestyle back to a land of unemployed violent men, which allowed them to continue under a new banner.

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Serverpolice001 t1_j6bzxzt wrote

But do you see how crazy that could sound? Despite a millennia of war, kleptocracy, and inequality the second-most, violent Central American country had no organized crime until after America exported gangs back to El Salvador? Gangs have exist everywhere, in every country far longer than america has been a country and there’s nothing unique about American gangs in spectrum of how they operate.

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NeonHowler t1_j6c2pi8 wrote

MS-13 and Barrio 18 are the biggest gangs and they both originated in California. Their reputation for extreme violence predated their rise in El Salvador.

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