A few years ago, I read about a girl that I knew from high school who went to meet some friends at a hotel room in our middle-class suburb of Washington, D.C. Hours later, she was dead and dumped in a forest two hours away, a victim of the most violent, intimidating gang around: MS-13.

Mara Salvatrucha-13, or MS-13 for short, is a gang built on violence and intimidation. Rooted in El Salvador, the gang has a significant presence in the United States as well, with Los Angeles in particular being a huge breeding ground. But MS-13 terrorizes its home country the most, with its ongoing territory battle with rival gang Barrio 18 being responsible for El Salvador’s status as having the second highest murder rate in the world.

One year ago today, MS-13 and Barrio 18 agreed to a truce. Surprisingly, the truce is still in place today, and the country’s murder rate has dropped an astounding 67 percent. From a high of between 13 and 14 murders a day, the country is now dealing with about 5—still a number not in line with peace and harmony, but certainly a vast improvement.

It is believed the truce was facilitated by a Catholic bishop—something to be expected in this predominantly Catholic country—and a former rebel commander of left-wing guerillas who battled El Salvador’s military during the country’s civil war some 30 years ago. The negotiations took place among rival gang leaders in some of the nation’s prisons, which are swollen in many cases to five times their capacity.

While El Salvador’s Minister for Justice and Security is credited with the arrangement (though he denies involvement), many people are skeptical, believing that the gangs have either been paid off by the government or strongly influenced by just as violent gangs from Mexico who depend on MS-13 and Barrio 18 for getting their drug supplies through Central America. But all parties involved insist neither is true, and that the gangs’ leaders have come to the realization that the body count has simply gotten out of hand.

What’s important for now though is that the murder rate is down, and if the trend continues, it could go a long way into helping El Salvador reach its potential as a growth economy and a desirable place to visit. And more importantly, a place where the country’s children can play outside without the sound of gunshots ringing.

(image credit: Associated Press/WJLA)

(image credit: Associated Press/WJLA)

(image credit: Associated Press/WJLA)

When drug gangs have more firepower than police and aren’t afraid to use it, poverty is such that two-thirds of its citizens live on less than $1.25 a day, only a quarter of children complete middle school and even those individuals who aren’t gang-affiliated tend to rely on violent crime for survival rather than choosing another path, what is a country to do?

I wish I knew. So does Honduras.

In a country that even on its best days is seemingly half-controlled by gangs (they formally control the highways and airports in several Honduran states, and charge for ‘free’ public parking in cities), there doesn’t seem to be many answers. Politicians are mostly corrupt, and who can blame them? In their view, they face a choice in many cases to give into gang wishes and be compensated for it, or face assured assassination. So they do what most people would do and look out for number one.

The civilians who do not choose the gang life still have access to assault weapons, and who can blame them for resorting to use them? In their view, they are subject to the AK-47 backed will of the gangs anyway, so why not use the same tactics to get what they can?

It is now believed that drug trafficking accounts for 13 percent of Honduras’ gross domestic product, with three-quarters of U.S.-bound cocaine passing through the country.

The result of all of this, of course, is distinction as the most violent country in the world. Honduras suffers 91 homicides per 100,000 people, and last year, the U.S. Peace Corps even made the decision to leave after one of its members was shot while riding a bus.

As a result, a huge ordeal has been made of the United States Soccer team’s appearance here later today, in San Pedro Sula (currently the most violent city in the world with 159 murders per 100,000 people), to play Honduras in a 2014 World Cup qualifying match. While teams on the road typically have a chance to eat out and shop in their down time, the U.S. squad will have no such luxuries. Their extent of having visited San Pedro Sula will be what they can see from the window of their armored bus between the team’s hotel and the stadium, and the hysteria of the match itself, for which Honduras has declared a national holiday so citizens can watch.

It is depressing that it must come to such security measures though, and I’m hopeful that something in this country can change for the better. Many people compare it to Colombia of the 1980s, which was virtually controlled by drug cartels who provided better answers for peoples’ poverty than the government was able to. Colombia was able to dig itself out of that hole, and today is far from perfect, but light years ahead of where it was three decades ago.

There is hope for Honduras, but right now it is difficult to see it.

Every business in San Pedro Sula has armed guards watching

Armed guards have been added to city buses