Weekly Report - 8 February 2007

The US State Department and the FBI will assist the Policí­a Nacional Civil (PNC) to identify and pursue the most dangerous members of the mara gangs by creating a transnational anti-gang unit (TAG), which will also include a special prosecutor. This was the main development at a regional conference on the mara gangs in San Salvador on 5 February chaired by President Tony Saca and the US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales. The new security initiative, like Saca's Mano Dura plans, places the emphasis on aggression rather than rehabilitation. The justice and security minister, René Figueroa, spoke of "an organised offensive at a regional level".