The U.S. is spending millions on public relations to convince Central Americans to stay home. But the campaign does not appear to be working.
There’s a song playing on the radio here. Many people don’t know it is part of a U.S. government’s campaign in Central America.
“Migrants from everywhere, entrenched along the rail ties. Far away from where they come, further away from where they go,” the lyrics read.
The song harshly describe a series of trains called La Bestia, The Beast, which bring migrants from southern Mexico on their way north.
The words warn that Central American migrants are preyed upon enroute by Salvadoran gang members. The lyrics also dispel a myth, namely that children who arrive will be granted U.S. residency.
Despite the effort, the campaign is apparently being trumped by the facts on the ground.
Here's one example: A call comes in to police. Someone has reportedly been attacked in a neighborhood police say is gang-controlled. The detective in the car asks that his name not be mentioned. He fears retribution from gang members.
"We’re in an uncontrollable situation," he said, referring to organized crime.
Salvadoran police said gangs not only demand extortion, they also judge and sentence people, to detention or death. They also decide where people can live, running in effect a parallel state.
On this police call, the combatants and their reported victim have scattered. The police leave the scene.
Later that day, I met a second gang member, this time an MS-13 member who said his name was Carlos. He wouldn't give his last name.
"We are who we are, from the streets," he said. Staring at a cinderblock wall, he echoed the gang’s public mantra: a challenge to the Salvadoran government.
"They could listen to us, make the people at the bottom of society count for something," he said.
I spoke again with Alberto Arena, the economist and political analyst, after speaking with the second gang member.
“What we export mainly is people, not goods and services. We have to turn around that equation," he said.
Many gang members in Central America were deported from the U.S. with criminal records. Police here say that in turn led to a rise in violence. But Arena said it’s both simplistic and unfair to blame the U.S. solely for the current insecurity in El Salvador.
“That’s a wrong approach because a lot of the economic and political elites of this country have done a very poor job in this post war era," Arena noted.
But Arena also believes Washingtoncould help out El Salvador along with neighboring Guatemala and Honduras, by making one change in procedure.
“When the United States deports people that have been involved in illegal activity, violent activities, it’s very important that at least they’ll share the record with the national authorities of these countries for people to know who they are receiving. This hasn’t been done," he said.
But even if they locked up criminal deportees here, where would they put them?
"Just look at this situation." said a lieutenant in the National Police at the prison that only houses gang members, "Our prisons are jammed.”
The lieutenant also asked that his name not be used, also wary of the possibility of retribution.
"The best way to help our country would be investment by the U.S. government in our government, to create social programs and violence prevention," he said. He added that might succeed in convincing people that they can stay in Central America.
The Obama administration has proposed a tripling of aidto the region. Eighty percent would go to civil society and economic development. But both the House and Senate have sent back versions that one analyst, Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)said dilutes the proposal.
Congress is expected to vote on that request as part of an overall budget package that expires Dec. 11.