Gang

Daniel Alemán wears a black shirt in a room with two paintings on the wall and a blurry bouquet of flowers.

The kids aren’t alright — when being young is a crime in El Salvador

Conflict & Justice

Innocent youth are getting swept up in El Salvador’s crackdown in their war on gangs. Daniel Alemán, 23, walked free after spending over a year behind bars on trumped-up extortion charges in El Salvador. Others are not so lucky.

A reflection from the wing mirror of a car shows people ride motorcycles in Douala.

As gang violence escalates in Cameroon, residents are ‘not safe anymore’

Justice
A police officer removes a jacket bearing the name of the Bandidos motorcycle gang from a vehicle at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas, where nine members of a motorcycle gang were shot and killed on May 19, 2015.

What’s the reason nine bikers were killed in Texas? A patch.

Justice
Graffiti of the letters "MS", which stand for the street gang Mara Salvatrucha, photographed in San Salvador on April 22, 2014. Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Calle 18 are rival gangs that started in Los Angeles but now have a heavy presence in El Salvador.

Gang violence awaits a teen from El Salvador after his failed attempts to reach the US

Conflict
Girls stand in a dorm at the shelter for underage immigrants and repatriated minors in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Why so many undocumented kids continue to cross the border from Mexico into the US without their parents

Global Politics
A Guatemalan woman recently deported from the U.S. makes a phone call at a migrant shelter in Guatemala City, In addition to avoiding gang and drug-related violence, Central Americans are also fleeing to the US for economic reasons.

For Central Americans, fear is increasingly the reason for entering the US

Conflict & Justice

With gang and organized crime violence common in parts of Central America, more and more people trying to enter the US say they are fleeing out of fear. Last year, 36,000 people gave fear as the reason — more than double the prior year — and those from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala helped lead that rise.With gang and organized crime violence common in parts of Central America, more and more people trying to enter the US say they are fleeing out of fear. Last year, 36,000 people gave fear as the reason — more than double the prior year — and those from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala helped lead that rise.

Marseille was Europe's Capital of Culture in 2013, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the European Union to boost the arts.  The new Museum of Mediterranean and European Civilizations was the city's center piece.

Can culture trump the sound of Kalashnikovs in Marseille?

Arts, Culture & Media

Marseille was Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2013, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the European Union to boost the arts. Officials there say visits to museums doubled over the course of the year, though it seems many French are still afraid to go there.

Amidst Colombian violence, arts forge an alternative path

Global Politics

Colombia was wracked with violence during the era of the Escobar drug cartel. And while the cartel has been curtailed, regular street violence persists. Now, arts groups are trying to give youth an alternative path to the future.

Central American youths increasingly forced to flee to the U.S. to escape gang violence

Conflict & Justice

Ronald Aldana had a choice. Stay in Guatemala and be hunted down by gangs, or flee to the United States and try to make a new life. He chose to come to the United States. He applied for asylum, received it and has started a new life.

Salvadoran killed while waiting on U.S. immigration papers

For years, immigration law has sent undocumented immigrants who marry U.S. citizens back to their home countries to obtain visas. Charlie Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador did just that. Tragically, he was killed there, waiting for his paperwork to come through.