Gangs vs Natural disasters-Anderson Aguliar

  

                         

There is a debate whether gang violence in El Salvador takes more lives than natural disasters does in the entire world. El Salvador is known to have some of the biggest murder rates in all of Latin America, it is also known to be the home of the gang crisis. Natural disasters on the other hand have the power to wipe out hundreds or thousands of people at the same time at any place around the world. In the end, El Salvador’s gang violence has killed many people and these gangs force people to leave their houses by threats. The first argument that El Salvador’s gang violence has killed and relocated thousands of people is that the death toll in 2015 was horrible. The article by the Economist explains that in the first nine months of 2015 4,930 people were murdered in a country where it has a population of 6.5 million. This murder rate is 20 times the amount of the rate in the United States. For instance, the Economist says, “The gangs responded with a war on three fronts: against civilians, the state and each other. They killed 53 members of the security forces in the first six months of this year; those policing gang-controlled areas wear balaclavas to hide their identities. In July the Revolucionarios faction of Barrio 18, hoping to force the government to re-establish peace on its terms, forced buses in the capital to go on strike. ” This shows that El Salvador is not a good place to live because it is too dangerous and you are putting your life in risk. The second argument that El Salvador’s gang violence is more dangerous than natural disasters is that gangs force innocent people to relocate their house. In the article by the Economist discusses that people are having to leave their houses because gangs are fighting for territory. This violence scares people into looking for new places to live. For example the Economist explains that “Life in gang-controlled areas is miserable. The maras recruit children in primary school and extort protection money from businesses. Terrified parents do not let children leave the house unaccompanied; many businesses go bust. Nearly 300,000 Salvadorans were forced to leave their homes last year, by one estimate”. This information shows that gangs is giving a bad name to our country. It’s sad that innocent people have to leave their houses because it’s the only place to live.  Even though El Salvador is dangerous but we still have natural disasters all over the world and a lot of people die. I understand that other countries might be more dangerous because they have a lot of natural disasters and other diseases that affect them. My argument is of greater importance because El Salvador has more gun violence and more gangs. Natural disasters  don’t happen often, whereas gang violence happen everyday and more people die everyday.   In the end, El Salvador’s gang violence problem is a bigger issue to worry about than natural disasters. The chances are higher for you to be hurt from the gangs in El Salvador than being hurt from a natural disaster.Gangs are killing a lot of people so that’s why they have to leave their houses. I urge you to talk or send letters to the government. We need more police in streets and we need a safe  place to live.