La Vida Por Mara @ Univision.

Noticias Univision Presenta” will dedicate a primetime special to the underground world of Central American gangs and their cycle of violence entitled “La Vida Por Mara” (A Life For The Gang), to air September 1, 2005 at 10pm ET/PT on the Univision Television Network.

Award winning network anchor Maria Elena Salinas will document the life of the most feared gang of all, the “Mara Salvatrucha,” on the streets of Central America and Los Angeles, and come face to face with gang members behind bars accused of heinous crimes.

Also known as MS, the “Mara Salvatrucha” originated in Los Angeles among refugees running away from their war torn countries. Salinas investigates the mysteries of gang life including how kids as young as 11 years old are attracted to a life of crime on the streets. Why they subject themselves to beatings and other violent forms of initiation into their gang. Why they scar their bodies with tattoos that become permanent reminders of a life of violence and even murder. And why they are willing to kill and die for their gang.

The primetime special “La Vida Por La Mara” includes chilling testimony of ex-gang members who turn their lives around and now fight to end the street wars. Salinas questions law enforcement officials as well as the presidents of El Salvador and Honduras about their hard line approach to gang violence, and listens to the voices of family members who have lost loved ones to gang violence, both as victims and perpetrators.

Formerly confined to their birthplace, Los Angeles, the Maras are now present in at least 33 states across the country in places like Alaska, Charlotte, North Carolina and Fairfax, Virginia. Is the U.S. now under siege by these gangs? Where does the cycle of violence begin and where will it end?

“La Vida Por La Mara”, takes an in-depth look.