Special Envoy to El Salvador.
The passes are frank, the checks half mastered, the offsides frequent, but never whistled.
On this football field in Soyapango, a suburb of San Salvador, teenagers take advantage of the last rays of the sun to play a game of football.
On the edge of the stadium, Blanca came to take a few steps with her daughter and her grandsons.
"Life has completely changed, before we were afraid, we didn't go out, now there is more movement and life
," says this 48-year-old grandmother.
This same football stadium marked a year ago the separation between two rival bands: the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the Barrio-18.
It was also the site of shootings and executions.
On the adjoining room, a tag has been repainted.
It read a message from the MS-13:
“See, hear, be silent
”.
This war will end when we arrest the last criminal in Salvadoran territory
Gustavo Villatoro, Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security
Now, the only armed men present are soldiers and police.
On the streets of this once dangerous neighborhood, they are…
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