Crisis upon crisis in El Salvador and Guatemala

El Salvador and Guatemala are currently in the midst of severe crises, which is saying something, since things weren't going that great in the first place. In El Salvador, the FMLN and Salvador Sanchez Ceren have fueled the fires of violence by unleashing the country's police and military against the MS-13 and the 18th Street gangs. As a result, March was the most violent month in at least a decade.

The PNC killed over 140 "gang members" during "clashes" in March. That's nearly 30% of the 481 killed last month. And as you probably figured out, some of those clashes look to have been mighty suspicious.

The situation is unlikely to improve in the near-term as President Sanchez Ceren, like his predecessors before him, is turning to the military. Here's Tim's take with From policing to a war footing:

President Salvador Sánchez Cerén announced that El Salvador's army was readying three rapid reaction battalions of 400 soldiers each which could be deployed to the most dangerous zones in the country. There are already 7000 military personnel in the streets of the country to supplement police efforts on public security.

On Saturday, the armed forces confronted gang members in the community of Uluapa Ariba, in Zacatecoluca in the department of La Paz, The Twitter account of the armed forces reported that there has been a shoot-out with as many as 30 members of the Barrio 18 gang, which left 9 gang members dead and two captured.

Perhaps as retribution, two soldiers were murdered Saturday night and early Sunday morning in different parts of the country.

The FMLN's approach to public security has been schizophrenic, to say the least, since taking office in 2009. And schizophrenic might be the nicest thing to say about its security policy. Such a disappointment.

In Guatemala, the current and former Tax Authority heads and two dozen other people were arrested on a series of charges related to corruption. They took bribes from numerous businesses in return for reducing or eliminating customs taxes. The private secretary of Vice President Roxanna Baldetti was implicated as well. He was traveling to South Korea with the Vice President when the news broke and, what do you know, his whereabouts are currently unknown.

The fraud is in the millions. The Patriotic Party's presidential candidate, Alejandro Sinibaldi, and dozens of other elected officials have already resigned from the party in an effort to save what reputation they have left. With the Byron Lima arrest and now the tax authority, the PP is toast. Lima's connection went to the interior minister and the president while the tax scandal goes directly to the vice president's office.

From some of the transcripts of CICIG and the Public Ministry's wiretaps, there are at least two more high level officials who have not been identified or arrested. The arrests are a positive development but now there have to be questions concerning the ability of the president and vice president to serve out the remaining months of their terms.