Summary: This month marks the anniversary of the controversial 2012 gang truce in El Salvador. This week, Latin Pulse looks back at how the truce has worked between the large transnational criminal organizations MS-13 and Barrio 18, which characterize themselves as street gangs or maras. The primary question is how was the truce brought about? Did the Catholic Church broker the gang peace independently or did the Salvadoran government mask its involvement in the truce by getting the Church involved? The news segment of the program looks at the expectations of President Barack Obama concerning the debate over immigration reforms. The program includes in-depth interviews with: Steven Dudley of InSight Crime; and Hector Silva of American University's Center for Latin American & Latino Studies (CLALS). Executive Producer: Rick Rockwell Associate Producer: Curt Devine. (To download or stream this podcast, click here.) (The program is 30 minutes in length and the file size is 28 MB.) podcast news Latin America Barack Obama immigration gangs MS-13 politics crime El Salvador Mauricio Funes violence media prisons Catholic Church Barrio 18 Gang homicide drug cartels organized crime Mexico United States truce Central America
