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• A version of this post ran on the author's blog, centralamericanpolitics.blogspot.com. The views expressed are the author's own.

Luis Rodriguez has a piece on Gang Peace in El Salvador: The Opportunity We Can't Afford To Miss up on Fox News Latino. He has been involved in studying gangs for nearly the last two decades in El Salvador and elsewhere andÌýrecently traveled to El Salvador as part of an 11-member delegation of US-based urban peace advocates, gang prevention/intervention specialists, and researchers from Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York City, and San Francisco.
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His take is somewhat similar to what many of us have been arguing. The gang peace in El Salvador provides a once in a lifetime opportunity for the people of El Salvador (the US, and the region) to bring crime levels under control. However, it won't be easy – much needs to be done in both the short – and longterm to ensure success. He doesn't sugarcoat the challenges.

Fortunately, Rodriguez appears to beÌýsomewhat optimistic that the gangs, government, and society are ready to tackle the challenge head on.

However, he's not naive to the financial challengesÌýneeded to sustain the peace andÌýarguesÌýthere is money to be saved by changing the way the country approaches gang violence.
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2012 is looking to be another important year in El Salvador. I'm just not sure which way it's going to go. The gang truce has achievedÌýmore than anyone could have expected five months ago although it remains fragile. And the conflict between the legislative and judicial branches remains unresolved with the possible outcomeÌýof strengthenedÌýrule of law or political system that heeds court decisions only when it suits their interests.

– Mike Allison is an associate professor in theÌýPolitical Science DepartmentÌýand a member of theÌýLatin American and Women's Studies DepartmentÌýat theÌýUniversity of Scranton in Pennsylvania. ÌýYou can follow his Central American Politics blog here.