El Salvador: A gang murdered a young gay man after he attended a party.
He was attacked for walking through an area controlled by a rival gang. Despite what the government says, hate crimes continue to rise.
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Brayan Alexander Aguiñada García, 22, was shot and killed while returning home to Copapayo, Sonsonate department. The crime occurred after he attended a festival organized annually by the municipality of Armenia in honor of its patron saint.
People close to the victim told Presentes that Brayan frequently visited the small town, despite warnings from the Barrio 18 gang, which controls the area, against it. His place of residence is under the control of their rivals, Mara Salvatrucha MS13.
Ignoring these warnings has cost many people their lives in that region. For the same reason, Brayan Aguinanda was murdered in the early morning of November 21.
“Brayan had mentioned that he had been forbidden from going to Armenia. He received threats from gang members of the 18th Street gang. They told him they didn't want to see him in Armenia anymore because if he did, they were going to kill him,” a human rights defender who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals Presentes
Gang rules: “We don’t want assholes”
The National Civil Police reported on their official Twitter account that a patrol transported Brayan to the hospital where he died. “We are reporting a homicide in Cantón Tres Ceibas, Armenia, Sonsonate. Our units transported the victim to a medical center where he died. We are searching the area for the perpetrators,” the police posted on the morning of November 21.
Presentes contacted the police stations in the department of Sonsonate, but they stated they were not authorized to provide information about the case. The police press office was also contacted repeatedly, but they had not responded by the time of publication.
Gangs are criminal organizations that originated on the streets of Los Angeles in the United States. They established themselves in El Salvador after a mass deportation of their members to the impoverished Central American country.
In their territories, gang members defend themselves to the death, extort money, control, and dictate people's lives. They have clear rules about sexual orientation: "We don't want faggots (a derogatory term for gay people)."
Bryan's body was found in the area known as Tres Ceibas, two kilometers from his home. "Nobody knows how Bryan left, because nobody saw him do so after returning from the party," said the human rights defender.
Living in danger
The Tres Ceibas Canton is a dangerous area due to the presence of gangs. According to official police figures, two men were murdered in October for “working in a rival gang’s territory.”
El Salvador saw a notable decrease in homicides. These were mostly due to deadly gang disputes over control of the drug trade and trafficking, extortion of businesses, and the use of "their territories."
According to President Nayib Bukele, the decrease is due to the effectiveness of the Territorial Control Plan. However, security experts claim it is due to a possible pact or negotiation between the government and the Mara Salvatrucha MS-13, Barrio 18 (Revolutionary), and Sureños gangs.
A police source consulted by Presentes , who requested anonymity for fear of internal reprisals, confirmed that gangs continue to exert control and operate in the territories. Although murders have decreased, the number of missing persons has increased.
“So far I haven’t seen a single printed copy of the Territorial Control Plan. I don’t know if it even exists. The gangs maintain territorial control; it’s still the same, nothing has changed. Drug trafficking and extortion continue unabated,” a police source Presentes
Crimes that are not decreasing
The Attorney General's Office reported 2,063 missing persons nationwide from January to November 30 of this year.
“It hasn’t had any effect, since you can’t say that living in an area controlled by one gang means you can safely go to an area controlled by another. You might be able to go in, but you don’t know if you’ll come out. We can see that there is no security, no peace,” lamented the human rights defender.
According to official figures, 936 murders were recorded between January 1 and November 2, while 1,322 crimes were committed between January and December 2020.
The Salvadoran Federation of Lesbian, Gay, Trans and Intersex People (FESLBTBI) has reported five crimes against LGBTI people so far in 2021.
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