Posted on September 24, 2017

Photos: The Gangs of Latin America

Chris Roberts, American Renaissance, September 24, 2017

Dead MS-13 Member

Apr 4, 2015 – San Pedro Sula, Honduras – He became the fourth victim on the same street that night. The rival 18th Street gang surprised their enemies MS13 and shot them dead. Police have no witnesses to the event and probably the murder will never be solved. (Credit Image: © Niclas Hammarstrom/Aftonbladet via ZUMA Press)

The countries with the highest murder rates are not, as you might expect, in black Africa — they are in Latin America. El Salvador and Honduras top the list, and the only two countries outside of Latin America and the Caribbean in the top 15 are South Africa and Lesotho. Mexico currently ranks at 23 — they owe their relative distance from the top to their enormous population (over 120 million). If you rank nations by number of murders instead of murder rate, Mexico is third from the top, just after two even bigger nations: Brazil and India.

A big cause of these nightmarish murder rates is that many Latin American nations are so corrupt and inept that street gangs become so large and ferocious, they practically operate as competing governments. The result is an intensely violent struggle for legitimacy–and resources.

Below are some photos of what that power vacuum looks like, and it raises a question: at what level should persistent street violence be classified as civil war?

Gangs in this part of the world have military weapons:

Crime in El Salvador

Policemen checking some of the 213 anti-tank grenades found in the yard of a house, in El Congo, 50 km north of San Salvador, capital of El Salvador. (Credit Image: © Attorney General Of The El Salvador Republic/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Los Zetas in Guatemala

Soldiers inspect confiscated weaponry in Coban, Guatemala. The Guatemalan military is currently trying to push out the Mexican drug gang Los Zetas out of their country. (Credit Image: © Xinhua via ZUMA Wire)

Narco Tank

Home made drug tanks built by Mexican crime gangs have been seized by Mexican police. Dubbed ”Narco Tanks,” the vehicles are part of more than 100 tanks impounded and destroyed by the authorities in the war on drugs. Among those vehicles seized is an armored tank with the latest weapons innovations from Los Zetas, one of Mexicos largest and most brutal drug trafficking organizations. (Credit Image: © Caters News/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Illegal Weapons Cache in Mexico

A cartel’s illegal weapons cache seized by Mexican police. (Credit Image: © El Universal/ZUMA Press).

Mexican Army Ambushes A Camp Of Los Zetas

Monterrey, Mexico – After the Mexican Army ambushed a camp occupied by the group known as ‘Los Zetas’, using helicopters and ground units, they seized several trucks, grenade launchers, machine guns, grenades, rifles, pistols, and cartridge belts, and uniforms. (Credit Image: © El Universal/ZUMA Press)

Mexican Army Ambushes A Camp Of Los Zetas

Monterrey, Mexico – Same as above.  (Credit Image: © El Universal/ZUMA Press)

Los Zetas Grenades

Monterrey, Mexico – Same as above. (Credit Image: © El Universal/ZUMA Press)

Mexican Army confiscates training arsenal of Los Zetas

Mexico City, Mexico – The Mexico Marine force (SEMAR) confiscated 215 firearms and more than 29,000 cartridges, allegedly used by Los Zetas group to train its members. (Credit Image: © Susana Gonzalez/DPA/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Mexican Weapons Cache

Mexico City, Mexico – The Mexico Marine force (SEMAR) confiscated 215 firearms and more than 29,000 cartridges, allegedly used by Los Zetas group to train its members. (Credit Image: © Susana Gonzalez/DPA/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Because gangs are so well armed, clashes with the government often look like military battles or the aftermath of terrorist attacks:

Road Block in Mexico

Apatzingan, Michoacan, Mexico – Several soldiers look at a truck put in the middle of road by drug traffickers to block the highway during a clash between police and a gang in Apaztingan. The clash left five people dead and seven wounded. (Credit Image: © Str/EFE/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Mexico War Zone

Mexican soldiers pass by the remains of burnt vehicles used as roadblocks by members of the La Familia drug cartel on the highway between Morelia and Apatzingan in Mexico.
(Credit Image: © Xinhua via ZUMA Wire)

Bombed Out Bus in Brazil

The charred remains of a city bus sit roadside in Botafogo, after the Comando Vermelho drug gang that rules many of Rio’s neighborhoods torched buses, assaulted cars and ordered schools and shops closed in much of the city to protest what traffickers called police abuse and government corruption. (Credit Image: © Kevin G. Hall/TNS/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Juarez, Nuevo Leon, Mexico – Military forces guarding the area where they clashed with suspected members of the ‘Zetas’ cartel.(Credit Image: © El Universal/ZUMA Press)

35 Bodies Found in Mexican Roadway

Veracruz, Boca del Rio, Mexico – A traffic policeman guards 35 bodies abandoned in front of a mall. The bodies were found in two trucks with signs of torture and some mutilated. The Attorney of Veracruz, confirmed the number of victims that apparently belong to the criminal organization of Los Zetas. (Credit Image: © Xinhua via ZUMA Wire)

Shootout in Tijuana

Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico – Hundreds of police officers and soldiers waged a three-hour gun battle against heavily armed men. (Credit Image: © EFE/ZUMA Press)

Mexican Street Battle

Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico – Hundreds of police officers and soldiers waged a three-hour gun battle against heavily armed men. (Credit Image: © EFE/ZUMA Press)

Police Fight Criminals in the Streets of Mexico

Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico – Hundreds of police officers and soldiers waged a three-hour gun battle against heavily armed men. (Credit Image: © EFE/ZUMA Press)

anti-Gang Operation in Mexico

Anti-gang operation in Mexico City. (Credit Image: © EFE/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Mexican Cops Raid Los Zetas

Anti-gang operation in Mexico City. (Credit Image: © EFE/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Cops in Mexico

Anti-gang operation in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. (Credit Image: © EFE/ZUMAPRESS.com)

In America, blacks have outpaced Hispanics in criminality for decades. But over the course of this century the black portion of the population is projected to stay roughly steady at 12 or 13 percent. Meanwhile, Hispanics will about double their share . With that will come the decay of government institutions such as the court system and police force, and an rise in corruption and nepotism. In that environment, it will be just a matter of time before the gangs of Latin America rise to power in the Latin parts of America.

A Mexican Southsider in LA

A “Mexican Southsider” gang member in Los Angeles, California. (Credit Image: Mark Allen Johnson / ZUMAPRESS.com)