Gang Documentarian Killed in El Salvador

By PopEater / Wire Services Posted Sep 4th 2009 07:54AM

The film world is in shock after a French documentary maker who spent years filming a brutally violent Salvadoran street gang was found shot to death in a gang-riddled El Salvador neighborhood. El Salvador's top prosecutor said Thursday the involvement of gangs was under consideration in the killing of Christian Poveda, a former war photographer whose latest film takes an intimate look at the violent lives of gang members deported back to the Central American country after serving time in U.S. prisons.

Salvadoran Attorney General Astor Escalante declined to provide more details of the ongoing investigation.

"It is our duty to do everything we can to find those responsible," he said.

Poveda, 53, was found Wednesday inside a car in the rural Tonacatepeque region north of the capital of San Salvador. He was shot in the head.

The day of his death, the filmmaker had set out to visit the gang-dominated area of Soyapango, just outside the capital, to arrange an interview with female gang members for journalists from a French fashion magazine. He told an Associated Press photographer about the outing before leaving.

Gang violence in impoverished El Salvador fuels one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America.

Poveda practically lived among members of one gang, the Mara 18, to create "La Vida Loca," filming gang initiations, drug use, tattoo session and funerals. Pirated copies of the film are sold on the streets of the capital, and even Salvadorans consider the documentary to be a shocking glimpse into gang life.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner praised Poveda's intrepid work, calling him "a respected journalist, a professional who never hesitated to take great risks in the name of freedom of information."

In April, Poveda told the Los Angeles Times that despite the drugs, shootings, beatings and cruelty he captured on the film, he had sympathy for many of the gang members, whom he described as "victims of society."

"As savage as they can be, they're people of their word. The gangs are very well-structured organizations and the decision made by a gang is the final one. From the moment I understood that, I had no problems," he said.

Poveda, who lived and worked as a filmmaker and photojournalist in El Salvador during the civil war that began in 1980, had recently begun touring with "La Vida Loca."

Salvadoran Public Safety Minister Manuel Melgar called Poveda's slaying a "repugnant and reproachable criminal act" and said police would work "tirelessly" to find the killers.

The French ambassador in San Salvador said France would support the Salvadoran investigation.

Reporters Without Borders board member Alain Mingham, a friend of Poveda's, said the filmmaker was able to be committed to and involved with his subjects without taking sides.

The son of Spanish Republicans who sought refuge in France, Poveda reported from Chile under the Pinochet dictatorship, and also covered the civil war in Nicaragua in the 1980s, Mingham said.

During his 30-year career, Poveda wrote for a variety of publications including Time and Newsweek magazines, Paris Match and Figaro, from posts in Latin America, Iran and Iraq, Sierra Leone and the Philippines.

"His humanistic convictions went hand-in-hand with a great deal of professional rigor," Mingham said.

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Tags: Christian Poveda, ChristianPoveda, el salvador, ElSalvador

Comments

(66)

Friday 04 September

By Wish Belkin

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Swim with piranha, you're bound to get bit.

By glo

Too bad there isn't a way to keep El Salvadoron's in El Salvador.

By crksr

Vote down Vote up Report this

Or even worse, eaten!

By Jonathan

"They're people of their word"

Obviously not.

By Meghan

Any death is sad... but really, no one saw this coming? It's one of the hazards of his profession, but he chose it. He should have known the risks. I feel for his family. But wow, what a way to go. Doing something you love. Wonder if he had his camera running when he was killed. Then finding the murderer would be easy.

By Deborah

That didn't originate in America; it originated in El Salvador, brought it's nasty face to America, got caught and imprisoned, and then sent back to El Salvador where it came from. We aren't going to keep criminals, who also are illegals, here in our country. You can blame this one on America.

Excuse me, please...that was supposed to say you CAN'T blame this on America. My typo, I'm sorry.

By phdpamela

Round up all those gangs, line them up, and shoot them all, then we can get back to wholesome living.

By SU

Deborah is so right. South American illegals and Mexican illegals are bringing their vile gangs to our country. Wake up people. email obama and demand deportation of all illegals. Start with obama's aunt who is here illegally and gets public housing. I am tired of paying for the education and medical expenses for folks who do not contributute to the fund(PAY TAXES). Tired of seeing OUR neighborhoods infected with this element of violence.

By Sam

These individuals that have come to this country from impoverished nations is changing the face of the US. We need to DEPORT ALL ILLEGALS!!! If they do not have enough respect for the Law prior to coming here.... WHAT IN HELL would make anyone believe they will respect once they arrive. These illegals are sapping this country economically and all of US that have paid our dues, as well as our forefathers are picking up the tab. And, the babies they keep having they can't afford is over-crowding our schools and our children are paying the price as well. Open your EYES people and start writing those letters to your elected leaders telling them if they are pro-amensty, then kiss their elected positions goodbye. ENOUGH ALREADY lET'S TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY and stop going to the poor house and down the drain because other countries are pawning their citizens off on us. Remember, their money is going back to their country ... it's NOT staying here. So, where's their loyalty.... HOME.. AND THAT'S WHERE OURS SHOULD BE, TOO!!!!!

By RAFAEL

SAM, YOU ARE RIGHT!!! FOR ONCE, SOMEONE WITH COMMON SENSE. THE AMERICAN GREENBACKS THAT WE WORK HARD FOR EVERY DAY IS BEING EXCHANGED FOR OTHER CURRENCY AND SENT ABROAD BY MEXICANS, SALVADORIANS (LAND SCAPERS). I PAY MY TAXES WHEN DUE, I BLEED THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE.........DO YOU? LET'S CREATE A SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM, AND FAST!!!!!

Monday 07 September

By lionel

OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ARE ALL CORRUPT CRIMINALS , IT WILL DO NO GOOD .

Tuesday 08 September

By KPM

I am all for deporting the people that criminals and are just hurting our country. But don't try blaming all illegals on this. I have seen several Americans destroy our country, oh but its okay for them to do it. I have personally watch as many illegal people pay their taxes and they are not able to file taxes to get back anything that they overpaid, so don't critize all illegals. Look around and see how many Americans themselves are criminals and are destroying our country. Remember that the majority of people in America have a history of having ancestors that came illegally into this country to make a better life for their families. I don't approve gang members destroying our country, and I believe that we need to get rid of them by sending them back from where they came from, but don't judge all people by what this group of people decide to do.

By LR Valle

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

This poor people that you are refering too, could have also have being wealty people as they are the ones that have the reasources to put this together with many of your American compatriots. Also your vias towards LATIN AMERICA is sad as they are realy no different other then in aperance to the ANGLO poor and badlly educated Europeans that presided and still migrate to this country from Europe. The biguest treat to you may be the person that lives or works next to you as they fuel the demand for drugs and iligal activities, also your goverment that saids to be in a drug war but has beign known to have use its proficts to buy and fuel wars else were in the world and then the mayor players combinietlly forget or claim to not have known about this. The instability of some Latin American countrys is often fuel by outsiders and plays well into the G8 (or G9 what ever) long tern control of this hemisphere. Please, Excuse my english but do take the time to just think about the facts

By lilflman

OHHHH,,and while in process do it,do it wearing the white sheets ur grandady left u to wear when u grow up! ur grown now!!!

Thursday 10 September

By Alfredo Morfin

By the way, i don't think his murder was gang related,This murder is not gang style,Look's more like political style, Government.

By wbischo

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

This reporter was trying to learn for himself and educate the world about the lives of gang members. They cut off their own lifeline to the outside world and any hope that people will come to understand why gangs thrive and why people join them in the first place. If no one understands all that, how can we prevent it from happening? If we don't put an end to that part of gang "life", we won't ever be able to stop them. Gang members are human beings, and start out very young in their lives. Their home situation must be intolerable to push them to join a gang "family".

By Santa

Of course it could be the beer and the drugs!!!

By rollingfrogmusic

Are you freaking kidding me? Educate and coddle the gangs out of existence? This is as simple as it get: Join a gang and you die. If you help a gang you die. If you're in a gang and we can't catch you and your family helps you, they die. This isn't a social experiment, dumbo. We're not trying to curtail classroom cheating or cigarette smoking here. These are murderous thugs and rapists who publicly decapitate police officers and school-age children of people who have betrayed them. They will only stop when it's the only way to stay alive.

By Marcus

This reminds of of the guy in Alaska that thought he was buddies with the Grizzly bears. Until they ate him.

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