Violence In Sin Nombre

The movie Sin Nombre "Without a name" emphasizes the violence in Latin America and show the journey of those who attempt to come to the U.S. the movie was released in 2009. Even though it has been 6 years I believe violence and the attempt to come to the U.S for a better life is still the same but the violence has increased and many people end up dead on their way to find a better and non-violent place to live. The reasons why many people immigrate to the U.S is to escape from the country's violence and to reunite with their families as in the movie Sayra's father has been deported but now he wants to go back with his family and to take his daughter and brother to have a better life. Meanwhile Willy, also known as Casper tries to escape

from death threats from the Mara Salvatrucha after he kills Lil Mago. Mago is "the boss and devotion to Mara Salvatrucha trumps all else" (“Relevant, Intense”).

Smiley, a 12 year old boy who has join the gang after he has been beaten for thirteen seconds, decides to go down the wrong path maybe because he wants to feel part of a family and feel that he has the same power as many others. I believe some teenagers are often attracted by the gangs because like Smiley they are alone in their country and in order to feel part of a group he decides to join the Mara Salvatrucha (ML13) one of the largest gang organizations in Latin America. "The real Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 has wretched, perverse history: the gang is thought to have been started in 1980s in Los Angeles by Salvadorian immigrants whose families had fled the Civil war in their country a war partly paid for by the United States" (Robles, “Fleeing gangs”). It has been 35 years and gang's population has increase not only in Latin America but as well in the

U.S.
Some people are trying to escape from their country's violence but on their way to the U.S they encounter more violence or "are often attracted to gang culture, looking for a sense of belonging (and sometimes) a life that ends up imprisoning them in the same or an even more miserable existence" (Arce, “The fate of central”). Others are looking for better opportunities in their life, to have a better education and succeed. Many children in Latin America choose the wrong path which may seem the easiest for them but they are not thinking about the consequences. Violence is one of the reasons why so many people immigrate to the U.S. like in the movie; Sayra's father chooses to take her and brother to have a better life. He wants her daughter to have a better future and be away from the violence. Casper tries to immigrate to the U.S because he has been threatened after he killed a member of the Mala Salvaltrucha gang. “The border between Mexico and Honduras is full of dangers; (people) are constantly exposed" to rape, robbery and exploitation (Arce, “The fate of central”). Many people "see their dreams of getting a decent job in the U.S come to an end at the frontier and must begin the painful trip back to their country of origin" (“The fate of central”). La bestia also known as “the beast”, the train's name that carries many immigrants’ dream to arrive to the United States. It passes through Mexico's and Latin America's frontier. It is a really dangerous route because, like Sayra was going to get raped by a member of ML13, many women are exposed to this or to even get killed if anyone opposes to get robbed. The American dream is what most people is looking forward to, once they get out of their country but people have to suffer a lot before they arrived to their destination. It might take those months but their goal is to get to the U.S.A.

Some are risking their life getting on to the trains that are heading to the Texas and Mexico's border. ML13's aim to rob all the people on the train and it is actually sad how the people on the train have being suffering or escaping from violence and their goal is to get to the U.S for a better future. They encounter more violence which might lead them to stop dreaming and stay just where they are, but for others it might be the right decision no matter how much they have to suffer to pursue their dreams.

Throughout the movie it highlights that violence will follow you no matter where you go, if someone is in a gang and he/she tries to escape from it, the only way to escape is death.

Casper decides to escape after he killed Lil Mago, he tries to rob and rape Sayra but Casper saves her "watching him unleash on another innocent girl (after he also try to rape Casper's girlfriend Martha but ends up killing her), whacks him with his machete, cutting through half his neck" (“Relevant, Intense”). It is sad and incredible how much violence there is in Latin America to the point that people has to go to another country and some leave their family, friends behind just to be safe and live a better life. According to the U.S customs and Border protection "the number of unaccompanied minors has surged in the last three years, mainly driven by a huge influx of children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. As of June 15 2014, nearly 40,000 children from the three countries- about three quarter of the total-crossed the U.S borer illegally" (qtd. In France Robles "Fleeing Gangs”).The huge amount of children crossing illegally reflects that their countries are not safer anymore and if the opportunities are in another country which is U.S and probably Mexico as well, they should go no matter if is illegally because they are trying to save their life. As Barack Obama mention "the best thing we can do is make sure the children can live in their countries safely" (qtd. in Robles, “Fleeing

Gangs"). I agree with him because people should be happy, safe in their own country and should not be separate from their families but this is not the situation, there a lot of parents who protects their children and takes the decision to safe their children, which is a good thing but on their way to Mexico and U.S. violence might be worse or same as in their country. "In nearby Santa Barbara an 11 year-old boy has his throat slit by another children, because he did not pay a 50 cent extortion fee" (Robles, "Fleeing Gangs"). It is unbeliable that young children are killing each other instead of playing; I can believe how far violence has come where children are joining gangs because they want power, probably or because they have being thread. A medical examiner comment that "at first we saw a lot of kids who were being killed because when the gang came for their parents, they happened to be...at the location with them, now we see kids killing kids" (qtd. in Robles, "Fleeing Gangs"). There is one way parents can safe their kids from gangs which is to go to another country and find at least less violence because in every country violence exist.

Sin Nombre shows how some people live and the poverty there is in Latin America, not only emphasizes the most dangerous gang, MS-13 but also the sacrifices many people have to do to have a safety and better life.