"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"

I do feel safe in El Salvador. Being a blonde haired, green eyed, American- I still feel safe walking through the streets of San Salvador (with my family of course). In El Salvador you don't have much to worry about unless you are involved in a gang or are a bus driver or a frequent rider of public busses. I am none of the above. That being said, El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world as well an epidemic of gang violence. The main gang is Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13). It was formed in Los Angeles in the mid 90's by Salvadorian immigrants and was spread to El Salvador as a result of the deportation of thousands of Salvadorians from the U.S. Their rival gang is know as 18 street. Much of the violence occurs between members of these two gangs.
The homicide rates are said to be fueled by the drug cartel. The gangs also make money by charging business owners, especially bus drives a fee for their protection. The gangs made an estimated $18 million off of this in 2009 alone. This past week police have discovered 3 barrels stuffed full of money- millions and millions of dollars- related to the gangs and drug cartel. They have discovered about $15 million just this week. If the bus drivers don't pay up they are often killed. There have been many recent attacks on the public busses by gang members- including dousing the busses with gasoline and lighting them on fire, passengers and all. There are currently around 12 deaths per day as a result of the violence.
This past Thursday the president of El Salvador- Mauricio Funes- signed a new law criminalizing gang membership. My husband said he saw on the news that this law gives the police the right to stop suspected gang members- and even kill them. As you can imagine, this law did not sit well with the gangs. They responded with threats of violence. All of the public busses have been shut down. Large numbers of Salvadorians rely on public transportation- so the last couple of days the streets have been flooded with people walking to and from work. The traffic has been ridiculous- 30 people piled on top of one another in the back of a pickup is now a common sight. It has become almost a war between the police and the gangs. Just earlier today a police officer was killed on the right behind the wall of where we are staying. Afterwards, the police searched all of the houses for gang members. All day long there are helicopters hovering over us searching for gang members as well. And the police are everywhere. Seriously- there's like 1 officer every 10 feet on the main streets. The Salvadorian army has deployed 2,000 troops to ensure public saftey.
We are staying in Soyapango- which is only about 5 minutes from some of the most dangerous areas in El Salvador. Which is why I am very excited to get out of here and move to our house in Santa Ana tomorrow. Like I said earlier though- the violence is gang to gang, gang to police, and gang to public transportation and business owners. It is not directed at American tourists or ordinary citizens. Most areas are still relatively safe and nicer areas of el salvador remain unaffected. Even staying in Soyapango I have yet to see a gang member or an act of violence. Yet I know it is occurring all around me. But ordinary precautions such as not going out alone or at night will keep you safe.  
I personally think the Salvadorian government is making the right move and finally doing everything in their power to get the gangs under control. But we will see what is to come out of this ban on the public busses.