Redemption

The story focuses on the trajectories of former gang members in El Salvador who found a way to leave their past life in a radical change through the evangelical protestantism.

El Salvador has faced a sprawling gang presence for the past 20 years or so. The number of active gang members is estimated to 60,000. The violence is such that this small Central American country has reached homicide rates that placed it among the highest in the world. All political parties combined, has so far only promoted measures increasingly repressive, without removing the gangs. While it is commonly accepted in Salvadoran society that one remains a gangster for life, the public rehabilitation programs are almost non-existent. Only a few evangelical churches open their doors to those who seek to break this fatal destiny.
The story presented in the portfolio focuses on the trajectories of former gang members who found a way to leave their past life in a radical change through the evangelical protestantism.
As in many parts of Latin America, the Evangelical Protestantism extended in El Salvador during the last decades, achieving today an estimated 40% of its population. It tends to invest and supplant the political sphere, redefining the ethic concepts, therewith the fundamentals of democratic societies.The series also wants to question the growing place taken by religion and the failure of politics in the face of the problem of gangs in Latin America, and what this growing place implies for the democratic functioning of our societies.