TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The presidents of four Central American countries issued an international plea Friday for help in their struggle against gangs, saying the criminal groups pose a grave threat to the entire hemisphere.
The request came as U.S. authorities revealed that they had issued an alert for the suspected mastermind of the killing of 28 bus passengers near San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on Dec. 23. Alvaro "El Snoopy" Acosta-Bustillo, 28, is a suspected member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang and already may have entered the United States illegally, officials said.
The presidents of Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala met here in the Honduran capital to discuss common approaches to dealing with gangs, which together with drug trafficking are the most pressing law enforcement problems the nations face. The growth of gangs, augmented by mass deportations of Central American criminals from the United States in recent years, has caused crime rates to soar.
The Central American leaders, led by Honduran President Ricardo Maduro, said they would ask the World Bank and other international development agencies to fund programs to help deported gang members get training and jobs once they land back in their native countries.
"We will create a Central American fund to consolidate resources and make fighting gangs an international struggle, not just a local one," Maduro told reporters.
The United States also is taking a greater interest in helping Central American nations fight two gangs, Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, and a separate group that calls itself Mara 18, or 18th Street. They have their roots in the streets of Los Angeles, but have grown quickly amid Central America's social and economic problems.
The FBI has organized a nationwide task force targeting MS-13, the first of its kind concentrating on a single street gang. Sources say the bureau will deploy additional staff to Central America to help build a strategy that involves both U.S. and Central American officials.
Recognizing the criminal groups as an increasing threat to hemispheric stability, the U.S. State Department also is preparing a new initiative that will include economic programs to address the sociological roots of gangs, said a Western diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"If you want to solve the gangs problem, the critical element is sustained economic growth that provides alternatives. Youth in Central America have very limited economic opportunities," the official said.
