freelance
September 2, 2009, in Tonacatepeque, El Salvador
Salvadoran police found Poveda’s body sprawled near his car
on an isolated road in the town of Tonacatepeque,
about 10 miles (15 kilometers) from the capital, San Salvador, according to local and
international press reports. He had been shot in the face at least four times
at close range. Authorities found an audio recorder and Poveda’s press
credentials at the scene.
Poveda, a 52-year-old Frenchman of Spanish descent, had
documented violence in El
Salvador as a filmmaker and photojournalist
over the course of three decades. Throughout 2008, he worked on a highly
anticipated documentary about one of the country’s most violent street gangs,
Mara 18. During the filming, Poveda lived with gang members for 18 months. The
documentary, “La Vida Loca,”
was scheduled for wide release in September, and had already been screened at
international film festivals. It showed brutal killings, rites of initiation,
and the judicial system’s ineffectiveness in combating gangs. Local press
reports said Poveda had received death threats from angry gang members.
Tonacatepeque was controlled by Mara 18, local press reports
said. At the time of the murder, Poveda was reportedly traveling from nearby La
Campanera, a town controlled by Mara 18’s main rival, Mara Salvatrucha.
Confrontations between the two gangs have been extremely violent. Witnesses
said they called police to the scene of the killing after hearing several
gunshots, according to local press reports.
Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes issued a statement condemning
Poveda’s killing and calling for an end to street violence.
In September, local police arrested five suspects: four alleged
members of Mara 18 and a police agent assigned to the emergency phone system in
a neighborhood outside San Salvador,
according to news reports. Authorities said a sixth man, a Mara 18 member
already jailed in connection with other killings, was the mastermind.
Salvadoran news reports said gang members may have killed
Poveda because they believed him to be a police informant. The local news Web
site Elfaro reported that the accused
police agent told gang members that Poveda had provided Salvadoran police with videos
and photographs of Mara 18 members.
Job: Producer
Beats Covered: Crime
Gender: Male
Local or Foreign: Foreign
Freelance: Yes
Type of Death: Murder
Suspected Source of Fire: Criminal Group
Impunity: Yes
Taken Captive: No
Tortured: No
Threatened: Yes
