Soaring El Salvador violence prompts security rethink

Significance

The police believe that the killings may have been revenge attacks by the rival Mara 18 (M-18). El Salvador's murder rate is rising rapidly; March recorded the most violence in a month in a decade. The surging violence reflects the full breakdown of a gang truce first agreed in 2012, and resumed conflict between security forces and the two main gangs.

Impacts

• The failure of the gang truce and rising violence will deter countries like Guatemala and Honduras from similar truce negotiations.
• More violence may lead to an increase in illegal migration, to both neighbouring countries and the United States.
• The United States could boost aid to El Salvador, having already requested a 34.7% budget increase for Western Hemisphere aid in 2015.