EL SALVADOR CHILDREN OF WAR GANGS

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=hnvTQ5ePTh4

(17 Aug 1995) Spanish/Eng/Nat • • They call them the children of the war . • • Young gang members who've drifted into violence after returning from the U-S to El Salvador following the civil war. • • Some of these gangsters are as young as 10 years old. • • At the age most teenagers are playing softball or riding their bikes these kids are acting tough often on the run from those who want to kill them. • • There are said to be at least three death squads hunting down these teenage gangs in El Salvador. • • And it is a very rare day there are no murders. • • Dozens have been killed. • • These children are the disillusioned offspring of Salvadorans who have returned home from the U-S following the end of the civil war. Living a life of poverty in the U-S, many were members of gangs there. • • Back home- not much has changed. They are still poor... and still members of gangs. • • The men who kill them are former members of the Salvadoran army. • • These tough street kids represent to them a sinful life learned in the U-S. • • This boy is eleven years old. He was asked what he would do if a death squad came for him. • • SOUNDBITE: • • If I had a grenade I'd throw it at them. I'm not afraid of them but if I was unarmed well, I'd run as far as I could, what the heck. • • SUPER CAPTION: Gang member • • All of the children refused to give their names. • • This gang member is also eleven years old. • • SOUNDBITE: • • If I had a gun I'd phase them but we don't so who knows what will happen. • • (off camera: Are you afraid?) • • Not really. I'll be afraid the day I see them in front of me. But in the meantime. I don't give a damn. • • SUPER CAPTION: Gang member • • Most of these teenagers have no skills, are drop outs and use a variety of drugs including crack. • • There are efforts to help them. • • This man claims he was once a gang member. • • SOUNDBITE: • • Praise the Lord- I tell you my message for these Salvadoran gangsters both in the U-S and El Salvador is to get out of this rotten life because death is what the future has in store for them. I asked them to follow the way Jesus Christ shows us. • • SUPER CAPTION: Jose Napoleon Cruz, Former gang member from Los Angeles • • These children are yet another example of the legacy of a bloody, drawn out war. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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