Many young men in Nicaragua get drawn into the dangerous world of gang activity. | Photo by Andi McDaniel

According to some estimates there are at least a hundred thousand youth gang members in Central America. Violent, involved in drugs and organized crime….their numbers are growing and they’re moving north. Some Central American countries have adopted what they call an iron fist approach with massive detentions and harsh prison sentences… with little positive effect. But in Nicaragua they’re taking a different approach.

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The following is a transcript of Mary Stucky’s radio report. To listen to this broadcast, please click on the play button above.

Mary Stucky: Young men loiter on a street corner in the middle of the day, their eyes glassy. Many hold glue-soaked rags to their noses and breathe in the fumes.

Two women join the young men. The women are psychologists. They’re well-dressed and they look a little out of place – still, they get a warm welcome.

What’s happening, how are things, the psychologists ask. Things are ok, calm, the men tell them… but it didn’t used to be that way, says former gang member Wilmer Francisco Castro Morales.

Wilmer Francisco Castro Morales (speaking Spanish): “I had some bad experiences. Once I was slashed with a machete. I was also shot and beaten with a pipe. I was put in jail.”

Mary Stucky: Some of the men lift their shirts revealing bullet wounds and knife scars. Wilmer Jose Tellez talks about how he used to defend their turf against rival gangs.

Wilmer Jose Tellez  (speaking Spanish): “We were mortal enemies of a gang called the Power Rangers. But now they come here and we go over there. We are friends.”

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Mary Stucky: In Nicaragua, entire neighborhoods used to be gang war zones. Now they are quiet. Many experts say that’s due in part to Nicaragua’s focus on prevention and rehabilitation. Other countries such as Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have zero-tolerance policies – called Mano Duro or Iron Fist. Authorities round up gang members on the street and throw them in jail.  Athanasios Hristoulas studies gangs at ITAM, a university in Mexico City. He thinks Nicaragua’s method for dealing with rank and file gang members is more effective than mano duro.

Athanasios Hristoulas: “Mano duro against narco trafficantes. I’m all for it. Put them in jail. But these kids need help. They come from broken families and they join gangs because it gives them a sense of belonging. I don’t think the solution is putting them in jail. So I think the Nicaragua option is the right option.”

Mary Stucky: Psychologist Maria del Pilar Espinosa works for a group called the Center for the Prevention of Violence. She and her colleagues visit gang members in their homes, giving them counseling.

Maria del Pilar Espinosa (speaking Spanish):  “We try to show them their hidden anger, frustrations, traumas so we can start communicating with them, telling them no matter what their background is, even if they’re poor, they are valuable. ”

Mary Stucky: Nicaragua’s approach also involves re-training the police to help gang members, as opposed to just arresting them. Police say in one year, they found jobs for 100 ex gang members – like Omar Ponce.

Omar Ponce  (speaking Spanish):  “With some help from the police, you can now get a job or even receive a scholarship to study. Because of the new police initiative, we keep the peace. Before I couldn’t walk in the street without a pistol for my security. Now I walk without it.”

Mary Stucky: The number of gangs appears to be down as well. Hamyn Gurdian recently retired as head of the Juvenile Department of the National Police. He maintains there were 62 gangs in Nicaragua in 2003 – now there are 16.

Hamyn Gurdian (speaking Spanish): “Sometimes we are questioned why, being one of the poorest countries in the region, a country that has experienced war, why don’t we have gangs. The reason is precisely because we have placed our bets on prevention and that is why we have diminished the level of violence.”

Mary Stucky: Still, reliable figures on gangs in Nicaragua are hard to come by and some suggest the police could be altering their figures to reflect well on their programs. One former gang member who gave only his first name, Raul, says the police still harass them sometimes.

Raul ( speaking Spanish):  “Some police continue to act like bandits themselves. Like if they see a young man in sloppy clothes, they will beat him. Some things have improved definitely, but not everything.”

Mary Stucky: And all the ingredients for gangs remain — drugs, violence and poverty. Miguel Angel Lopez Gonzalez says without the psychologists he couldn’t have left the gang.

Miguel Angel Lopez Gonzalez  (speaking Spanish) “The psychologists have supported us, talking to us about drugs and family violence. They have helped us realize that gangs lead to dead people, incarcerations, friends in hospitals, wounded people, problems for our families. We don’t want our kids to do what we did. That is why we change.”

Mary Stucky: The World Bank and the US government have apparently taken notice. Both provide some funding for Nicaragua’s anti-gang programs. And a report on gangs from the U.S. Agency for International Development concludes that Nicaragua’s emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation could serve as a model for other countries in the region.