As a top leader of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13), Melgar Díaz became the first gang member US prosecutors had ever charged with terrorism, albeit controversially. In the indictment unsealed in July 2020, authorities accused him of participating in a racketeering conspiracy and providing support to terrorists, narco-terrorism, and conspiracy to finance terrorism, among other crimes.
InSight Crime Analysis
Melgar Díaz is not just any MS13 gang leader, and US officials will almost certainly view the blocking of his extradition as President Bukele’s way of thumbing his nose at prosecutors there.
To be sure, then-Attorney General Bill Barr announced the historic charges against Melgar Díaz from the White House alongside former President Donald Trump, as well as John Durham, the director of Joint Task Force Vulcan, whose stated objective was “destroying” the MS13. Never before had so many high-ranking officials deliberately targeted an MS13 leader in such a publicized manner.
In many ways, Melgar Díaz and his contentious classification as a “terrorist” by US officials represented the culmination of President Trump’s use of the MS13 as a boogeyman to rile up political support and increase backing for the anti-immigrant policies he pushed.
US Indictment of MS13 Leader More (Political) Smoke Than (Terrorist) Fire
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Up until this point, President Bukele has only given in to extraditing certain low-level gang members, falling well short of satisfying demands for MS13 leaders to be tried in the United States. On the other hand, the gang members his administration allegedly negotiated with to secure a reduction in violence — some of whom are wanted for US extradition — have not been targeted in the same way.