El Guero, smokes a cigarette in front of a mural in
memory of the deaths of fellow gang members, killed in fights with rival gang
Mara 18 and in shootouts with police, in Guatemala City, Sept. 18, 2003.
With Honduras and El Salvador outlawing street gangs, neighboring Guatemala
is struggling to deal with increasing crime and homicides. Many of the gangs
originally started in cities like Los Angeles, but they were transplanted to
Central America along with gang members deported for crimes committed in the
United States.