Link to Article: “MSF suspends work in San Salvador area after ambulance attacked”
After a recent attack on an ambulance, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has temporarily suspended activity in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. This event comes after the ambulance, occupied by a doctor and an assistant, was targeted in an attack launched by an armed gang, one of many in the area.
“We remind you that #WeAreNotATarget,” said MSF member Luis Romero, urging armed groups and locals to remain peaceful around the MSF organization.
The country has reported fluctuating numbers of COVID cases, with the current number being around 55,000, continuing to rise. The nation is also considered to have one of the highest rates of violence in the world.
This event is incredibly saddening, especially due to the timing. Being in the middle of a pandemic, the nation needs as much medical aid as it can receive, as local hospitals may become overwhelmed with patients seeking treatments.
Violence in El Salvador roots back to its civil war, which took place in the 1980s. Many Salvadorians fled to the United States during the war, forming groups with fellow Slavadorians to protect themselves. When the United States strengthened its immigration policies, many Salvadorians who had been convicted of crimes were sent back to their home country, bringing back the gang culture that they had been exposed to in the US. Today, El Salvador is considered the most dangerous country, outside of war zones. Gang activity in the nation is so large that it is estimated to account for 15% of the country’s GDP. Unfortunately, the gang violence in El Salvador is not likely to end soon, but with its new reformist government, violence rates have gone down, and the nation is beginning to see hope.
This issue relates back the class in different aspects. For one, MSF is a major global NGO that works to provide medical care to struggling countries, in this case, El Salvador. Secondly, the gang issue can be viewed on two different levels by looking at its history and roots. On the state level, MSF has pulled out activity in the capital due to threat of gang violence towards its workers. Expanding to the global level, the El Salvador’s civil war, which led to immigration to the US, can explain the gang exposure and violence that the nation struggles with to this day.