Recover Their Lives After Living Between Violence

In Guadalajara, the old gang is a problem finding aspot rich in marginal areas of the city, where poverty and few opportunities for personal development affects a large portion of the population.

On Tuesday December 27 MILLENNIUM JALISCO reported that at least 19 gangs had been identified by authorities as groups vie for control of the Santa Cecilia, east of the capital Guadalajara. And while the Department of Public Safety has with an integration program for members of criminal groups, social reintegration could not be completed without the help of former gang members themselves.

With over 20 years of history, Barrios Unidos en Cristo has been instrumental in rehabilitating former gang members, it is dedicated to rescuing people who have an addiction problem. Luis Enrique Hernandez, rehabilitation center manager and former member of The Hawks , one of the gang settled in Santa Cecilia, said that conflicts between the bands are old and in most cases not even the kids know why they fight. ”We have asked them dudes, ‘Hey ¿ why you fight with so-and-such and such a district, what you did? ‘ I wonder why they hate and tell us simply because they are in other neighborhoods, “Hernandez said. The head of the rehabilitation clinic explains that over the years, the feelings are changing and those who were once his worst enemies become their best friends and from his own experience highlights that “compas I come across that before watching them and knew they were from other districts and threw stones at them, now I see the streets and we are good comrades, and to greet us shake hands, because we never really had a fight. “ Current members of gangs are children of former members of those who approve of the participation in such groups, “I see two or threepurchases of mine who did not do nothing to prevent their children from getting into gangs, and say ‘well, if you lived and what it’s like this, why not put a stop to your son.’ “ The formation of these groups begins with the primary, as children first meet as a form of gambling, then in order to protect themselves from attacks by other gangs, then scale level and begin their life of crime, to finally give it a name that identifies the other, “then give it a name, create your code, without signs, their whistles, their ways of greeting, her manner, looking for their way of being different from others. “ The tattoos mean A characteristic feature of these groups are the tattoos , which represent important elements for them, such as the Virgin of Guadalupe, who according to the same gang means Mexico, because this image is the “queen of country.” Some “cholos” bring drawn two theater masks, one happy and one sad, this means that those who laugh now, cry later. In addition to the tear in the eye is a tribute to a friend who died in a fight.