+ A
A -
AFP
Los Angeles
Salvadoran medical volunteer Erick Beltran was on duty two years ago when gang members stormed his rescue corps base and riddled him with bullets. He hadn't yet turned 15.
The youngster was the first casualty from his unit but one of 540 Salvadoran children murdered in 2016 during gang wars, which have exacerbated the homicide rate across Central America and sparked a migration crisis at the US border.
With the eyes of the world on President Donald Trump's"zero-tolerance"push against illegal entries, Erick's story is among a spate of upcoming documentaries on the human beings behind the grim headlines about human trafficking, child prisons and organized crime.
"Telling character-driven, human stories is critically important in this moment,"said Joshua Bennett, of New York studio Show of Force, which is telling Erick's story in the documentary short"Los Comandos."
"They put a human face on these major issues, and provide a context that is essential to making sound, humane decisions on migration and refugees."
Bennett believes this humanity is lacking in a Trump administration walking back the US commitment to internationally held standards of asylum and protection of vulnerable migrants.
An estimated 500,000 Salvadorans -- many as young as 12 -- are gang members or have connections to organized crime, in a population barely over six million. In 2015, the country recorded 6,656 homicides. The murder rate of 108 per 100,000 people was the highest in the world. Founded over 50 years ago as a humanitarian rescue service responding to natural disasters, the"Comandos"volunteer ambulance corps has 32 bases around El Salvador.
Los Comandos tells the story of the unit's stand against a reign of terror inflicted on ordinary Salvadorans by rival gangs MS13 and Barrio 18.
Erick's colleague Mimi wrestles with whether to flee the country -- a tropical, mountainous stretch of land about the size of Massachusetts -- after his death or stay and work amid threats to her friends and family.
"They tell me, 'Look, if you have the chance to migrate, go. But I tell them I'm afraid to leave,"the 16-year-old tells the filmmakers.
