Maras and youth Gangs: two different worlds

“The phenomenon of youth gangs is completely different in every country. Despite the fact that they are treated as a global phenomenon, every case presents such precise peculiarities that it is impossible to treat them in a collective way.” This is one of the main conclusions reached by different Spanish and Latin American experts who participated in Maras and Youth Gangs: Two Different Worlds, a seminar organised by the CIDOB Foundation’s Latin America Programme. In the seminar, held in the Jordi Maragall Hall, participants reflected on maras, which act violently in the countries of Central America, and the reality of the Latin American youth gangs that exist in Europe. 

Coordinated by Rafael Martínez, a professor at the University of Barcelona, the seminar featured presentations by Ana Sofía Cardenal, of the Open University of Catalonia; Rhina Cabezas, a Salvadoran researcher at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Carlos Mario Perea, a Colombian researcher affiliated with ITAM (Centro de Estudios Interamericanos in Mexico); Juan Pablo Soriano, a Mexican researcher in ITAM affiliated with the Autonomous University of Barcelona; David Moya, of the University of Barcelona; J.Mª Lahosa, Director of Prevention Services for the Barcelona City Government; Elsa Falkenburger, of the Washington Office on Latin America; and Miguel López Corral, of the Office of the Secretary of State for Security. During the seminar, the participants discounted the relationship between maras and Latin America youth gangs in Spain. “Here the agglutinating element is the disorientation and uprootedness that the young encounter when they arrive in Europe.” 

In addition, the speakers also denied the identification of Latin American youth gangs as an internationally organised network, “despite the existence of a certain mimesis in norms, values and aesthetics”. The lecturers also coincided in citing “economic inequality, not the latent violence following some armed conflicts” as the main cause for the creation of maras. According to the speakers, gang members in Latin America “seek identification in a group in order to face up to an ‘other’” (a rival, usually another mara or the security forces). Finally, it was asserted that “the Barcelona model of creating cultural associations based on these gangs does not put an end to the possible violence of Latin American youths”. Nevertheless, in the Barcelona model, the seminar participants see “a viable outlet for all those who are seeking a reference group with which to overcome social disorientation”. >> See complete programme