Media Center

Press Release

OAS and El Salvador Organize First Concert with Female Gang Member Inmates

The Organization of American States (OAS), the Secretary of Culture of the Presidency of El Salvador, and the Salvadoran Institute for Childhood and Adolescence (ISNA), organized a concert with 23 female gang member inmates, in the Auditorium of the Business Foundation for Educational Development of San Salvador, in the framework of the peace process between the Salvadoran gangs, led by the Catholic Church and civil organizations in El Salvador.

The ISNA Executive Director, Luis Enrique Salazar Flores, said that in the context of constant clashes between these groups, "this was the first opportunity, the first space that they have shared in a unified way." "It was an important symbolic event and very emotional, the girls were wearing their best clothes and very nervous hoping that the concert would go well; the concert was a very emotional, human and magical moment," said the Executive Director.

Last July, the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, traveled to El Salvador, where he met with President Mauricio Funes and the military bishop Fabio Colindres. The focus of the talks was the peace process begun by the Salvadoran church and civil society with gang leaders, to end criminal violence in the country, which at times reached the highest figures in the region in terms of the number of victims. At present, the peace process has allowed the homicide rate to fall to less than half previous levels.

Secretary General Insulza said at that time, he hoped that the fledgling peace process between the gangs would constitute "a solution to the violence and put an end to the culture of death."

The ISNA Executive Director congratulated the "OAS team and Batuta Foundation for the exceptional work they have done and for the human warmth that have shared". He said that "working with this sector that is so misunderstood in this country is difficult, this good news goes against the stream because we deal with people who are outside the law. But even so, this good news is an important stimulus for further work. This initiative has undoubtedly contributed to a change in the worldview of the inmates."

This is the first female orchestra of El Salvador, and had the support of the musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra of El Salvador.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Lazo, Director of the ISNA Center for Women's Re-Integration expressed "a personal and professional satisfaction after all the experiences of these last ten days. I've seen the girls very excited, happy and nervous, hoping that everything would go well in the concert."

Lazo said he was "very proud of them and the rapprochement of the two opposing sides (the gangs MS and 18), generated through music and the arts," and noted that "during these days the tension between the rival gangs has fallen significantly and the interaction, tolerance and acceptance between them has increased."

The concert was held under the brand new orchestral music pilot project at the Center for Women's Reintegration of Ilopango, which 73 adolescents belonging to rival gangs are held.

The pilot project was organized by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and the Office of Education and Culture of the OAS, together with the Batuta Foundation of Colombia.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-327/12