ConflictBarometer_2015

THE AMERICAS
31 people in Saraguro, Loja province, in response to the
previous blockade of the Pan-American Highway. According
to CONAIE, many people were injured by police violence and
the use of tear gas bombs during the arrests. Three days later,
the Shuar and Achuar communities attacked government officials,
soldiers, and policemen with spears in Macas, Morona
Santiago province, injuring eight. The indigenous rejected
the government's plans for mining and oil drilling on their
land, demanded the construction of a road to the isolated
locality Taisha, and further called for Correa's resignation.
On August 28, government officials announced first agreements
with labor representatives as a result of the national
dialogue initiative. Between June and August, hundreds of
assemblies had taken place in which citizens had had the
possibility to express ideas for the state's social and economic
policies. On December 3, the parliament adopted
several constitutional amendments, including one to remove
term limits on the presidency. Although Correa had already
declared on November 18 that regardless of the parliament's
vote he would not run for re-election, oppositional groups
and labor unions demonstrated in front of the parliament
building. In the ensuing clashes with police and AP members,
several policemen were injured. sen
EL SALVADOR (MARAS)
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 2012
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
Mara Salvatrucha, Barrio 18 vs. government
subnational predominance
The conflict over subnational predominance between the
country's main criminal gangs, mainly Mara Salvatrucha and
Barrio 18, and the government escalated to a limited war.
Throughout the year, the government confronted gang criminality
more drastically implementing so-called ''Mano Dura''
security initiatives as the country's homicide rate reached an
all-time peak. With 103 murders per 100,000 inhabitants
and a population of approx. 6.4 million people, El Salvador
had the highest murder rate in the world in 2015. On December
1, the Attorney General's Office attributed 65 percent
of the homicides to gang attacks against state officials as
well as civilians, and to inter-gang violence. In contrast,
police statistics claimed only 27.8 percent as victims of gangrelated
crimes. By the end of the year, 6,650 homicides were
committed, leaving 62 police officers, 24 soldiers, and one
prosecutor killed by gang members. The departments most
affected were Cuscatlán, La Paz, Usulután, and San Salvador.
Furthermore, the Office of the UNHCR reported a total of
11,120 refugees and 21,885 asylum seekers from El Salvador
by June 2015, indicating a significant rise compared to
the previous year. The UNHCR attributed the displacement to
the increasing rates of homicide, extortion, armed theft, and
the recruitment of children by gangs.
In February, the Police Inspector General Ricardo Salvador
Martinez declared that police forces were ''at war'' with the
Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18, justifying the shooting of
gang members by the police and civilians in legitimate selfdefense.
Two weeks before, gang members had attacked a
police station in Chalchuapa, Santa Ana department, killing
one police officer with an AK-47 and injuring another two.
On April 17, approx. 30 members of the Mara Salvatrucha
ambushed a military unit in Zacatecoluca, La Paz department,
resulting in the deaths of nine gang members. President Salvador
Sánchez Cerén announced on May 7 the deployment
of three battalions of special forces, each consisting of 200
elite soldiers, in addition to the 7,000 soldiers already deployed
in major cities in order to combat gang activity more
effectively. In mid-June, leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha and
Barrio 18 proposed new peace talks and urged the government
to end its new security policies. Vice President Óscar
Ortiz declined to negotiate one month later. In late July,
gang members caused a major breakdown of public transportation
by forcing bus drivers to stop work in the capital
San Salvador and surrounding areas. Gang members killed
seven non-complying transportation workers and burned two
buses. In response, Sánchez Cerén ordered an additional 600
military troops to end the forced public transportation strike.
Throughout August, authorities arrested approx. 130 members
of the Barrio 18 for their involvement in the strike. On
August 24, the Supreme Court classified the Mara Salvatrucha
and Barrio 18 as terrorist groups. Two weeks earlier, Attorney
General Luis Martínez had declared that 300 alleged gang
members would be charged with acts of terrorism. The Attorney
General's Office also reported an increase of multiple
homicide cases and a rise of gang attacks using IEDs and
grenades to target police and security forces. Throughout
the year, police and military were involved in about 243 confrontations
with gang members and seized 2,039 weapons.
At a conference on October 21, Security and Justice Minister
Benito Lara announced that the government's recent hardline
policies were unsuccessful in decreasing the homicide rate
and improving security. Therefore, he proposed the implementation
of the new ''Gang Reinsertion Law'' which would
allow for gang members not to be charged on the terrorist
act as far as they did not commit serious crimes and comply
with the law. sen
GUATEMALA (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1985
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
CCDA, CUC, indigenous groups et al.
vs. government
system/ideology, resources
The violent crisis over the orientation of the political system
and resources between various farmers' associations such
as the Peasant Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) and the
Peasant Unity Committee (CUC) as well as various indigenous
groups, on the one hand, and the government, on the other,
continued.
Violent protests against hydroelectric power plants and operating
mines occurred in the Guatemala and Huehuetenango
departments. Sparked by the arrest of two indigenous activists
during a protest against the Santa Cruz Barillas hydroelectric
power project in San Mateo Ixtatán, Huehuetenango,
on January 19, approx. 200 protesters marched to the local
court in Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, the following day. After
the two activists' release on January 21, the mayor of the
municipality, a supporter of the project, shot into the crowd
in front of the courthouse, injuring two indigenous people.
One of them died in hospital as a result of his injuries on
March 15. On March 24, Pascual Pablo Francisco, a prominent
activist against the project and community leader of Barillas,
was found killed in Chancolín, Huehuetenango, after having
been missing for three days. On May 26, 300 officers of the
National Civil Police (PNC) cleared a blockade by 75 opponents
of the El Tambor silver mine in La Puya, Guatemala
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