January 7, 2007 [LINK / comment]
The wave of gang-related prison violence continues to sweep across Latin America, as at least 21 prisoners died this weekend in Apanteos jail, near the city of Santa Ana in northwestern El Salvador. The uprising began on Friday, and it took hundreds of police and soldiers before the government regained control of the facility. See BBC. It can hardly be coincidental that so many Latin American countries are being challenged by narco-traffic gangs simultaneously, and it may become a threat to U.S. national security interests unless effective measures to subdue the gang activities are taken soon.