LA MARA SALVATRUCHA TATTOOS: MEANING AND HISTORY

We recently told you all about Thai tattoos and their meanings, in this post we will discover the tattoos of the Mara Salvatrucha, don’t you know who they are? 

The Mara Salvatrucha gang, colloquially and infamously known as MS-13, is a ruthless and barbaric street gang. Those who are part of the MS-13 gang murder, terrorize, rape, and maim in 40 states across the U.S. The stories of their terrible crimes are legendary.

They are truths that no one disputes. Mara’s best-known motto is “kill, rape, control”.

Who are the Mara Salvatrucha?

Many recognize the name Mara Salvatrucha, or MS13, as one of the most feared and notorious criminal organizations in the West. Although it has its origins in the poor, refugee-laden neighborhoods of Los Angeles in the 1980s, gang life’s reach now extends from Central America to Europe.

Its activities have built up the Northern Triangle – Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. In October 2012, the US Treasury Department labeled the group a “transnational criminal organization”, the first such designation for a US street gang.

Origin

The MS13 was founded in the poor and marginalized neighborhoods of Los Angeles in the 1980s. As a result of the civil wars raging in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, refugees flooded north. Many of them ended up in California, living among the largely Mexican neighborhoods of East and Downtown Los Angeles, as well as in the San Fernando Valley.

While Mexican gangs reigned in the local underworld, war-hardened immigrants quickly organized themselves into competing groups, the strongest of which was called the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners or MSS.

The origin of the name is still disputed, but “mara” is a Central American term for the gang. “Salva” refers to El Salvador. “Trucha” is a slang term meaning “smart” or “clever”.

Salvatruchas was also the name given to the locals who fought against William Walker, an ambitious businessman and pro-slavery advocate from the United States who attempted to subdue parts of Central America with a small army in the 1850s. Walker, after a brief stint as self-proclaimed president of Nicaragua, was run down and executed by local Hondurans.

One of the most popular criminal gangs

MS-13 reportedly spans 46 states and has an estimated 50,000 members worldwide. There are groups from California to Long Island, and MS-13 crimes have even occurred in Canada. Tens of thousands of members are in Central America, with high concentrations in Guatemala and Honduras.

Outside the traditional bases in the United States and Central America, MS-13 has also expanded into Mexico. The gang moved across the Guatemalan border into the southern Mexican state of Chiapas and became involved in human smuggling, working with people hoping to sneak through Mexico on their way from Central America to the United States.

MS-13’s involvement in human trafficking led to partnerships with organizations such as Los Zetas, Mexico’s most notorious drug cartel.

The Mara Salvatrucha: their tattoos