Gang Violence and the Politics of Popular Punitivism in El Salvador

Abstract

Latin America has for years ranked as the most violent region in the world. Recent developments in its response to violence indicate a growing tendency to implement harsher, more punitive policies to tackle the issue. This seems to fall in line with trends toward increased punitivism documented in criminal justice systems in Western Europe and North America. This thesis studies the phenomenon of increased punitivism in Latin America by focusing on the case study of El Salvador. In the post-Civil War period, the Central American country became notorious for its public security crisis. Its steep homicide rates turned it into one of the most dangerous countries in the region and the world. Since 2003, local political figures have cast the blame overwhelmingly on gangs. I document the way that different branches of government have responded to gang violence since that year and demonstrate that the measures implemented to deal with the issue have taken an increasingly punitive form despite changes in government. Although initially these kinds of measures displayed a partisan split – they were endorsed and implemented by right and center-right parties and rejected by the left – positions around public security eventually converged and punitive policies gained bipartisan support. I show that this is the case for both the executive and legislative branches. I argue that this phenomenon responds to political incentives: public officials reap political benefits from enacting and supporting punitive policy. I claim that sociocultural factors resulted in the development of a “crime complex” which narrowed the sphere of politically viable choices available to decision-makers, encouraging the adoption of punitive policy across party lines. I contend, in particular, that the “crime complex” has made punitive policy a reliable method to obtain popular support during moments of high pressure on government, when specific events threaten to undermine its legitimacy. To record the evolution of state responses to gang violence since 2003, I study reports about public security from local NGOs and think tanks, and government documents on the topic, including legislative decrees targeting gangs. I build on sixteen semi-structured interviews conducted during fieldwork in El Salvador in the summer of 2019, as well as on analysis of Legislative Assembly discussions about security-related decrees, to discern the reasons behind the adoption of punitive public security policies. In closing, I provide an assessment of the ethical considerations related to punitivism. I claim that the politicization of punitive policy targeting gangs may jeopardize the state’s ability to ensure even-handed provision of justice, which is why I find that nurturing an awareness of the factors that bear on policy discussions and taking steps to ensure that relevant inputs are given proper consideration in said discussions can help address this ethical issue and strengthen the state’s ability to provide equal protection under the law.