What does the word Mara Salvatrucha mean?
Mason Cooper
Published Jun 23, 2026
What does the word Mara Salvatrucha mean?
Mara is slang meaning ‘gang’ (from La Marabunta; roaring ants—friends protecting each other like ants) and Salvatrucha means ‘street smart Salvadorians’ in Spanish. MS is the abbreviation of the full gang name.
What is the Mara in Honduras?
A mara is regarded as a group of delinquents of Latin America origin who reside in the United States but have spread towards Central America; namely, in the countries belonging to the Northern Triangle of Central America: Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Where did the maras originate?
Origins of the Maras The maras emerged from conflicts in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua during the 1980s. Thousands of people fled north, including a large number of young men who had fought on the governments’ side or with the insurgents.
Who started ms13?
Ernesto Miranda
MS-13/Founders
How did Barrio 18 start?
The Barrio 18 first emerged as a small-time street gang in Los Angeles. While some accounts trace its origins to the late 1950s, the gang began to take its current form in the 1980s after splitting from the Clanton 14 gang.
What do the Maras do?
Patagonian maras are diurnal animals built for running. They travel in mated pairs, with the male aggressively protecting his mate from rivals and predators. Monogamous for life, Patagonian maras have a unique breeding strategy. This burrow can be shared with as many as 15 different mara pairs and their offspring.
Where is the Mara Salvatrucha from?
Los Angeles, CA
MS-13/Place founded
Are Maras aggressive?
Patagonian maras inhabit central and southern Argentina. Patagonian maras are diurnal animals built for running. They travel in mated pairs, with the male aggressively protecting his mate from rivals and predators. Monogamous for life, Patagonian maras have a unique breeding strategy.
