The Dilemma of Lawlessness
Organized Crime, Violence, Prosperity, and Security Along Guatemala's Borders
Ralph Espach, Daniel Haering, Javier Meléndez Quiñonez, and Miguel Castillo Giron
DOI: 10.56686/9780997317442
ABOUT THE BOOK
Various independent and governmental reports have explained the gravity of the violence and organized crime in Guatemala and the danger these factors pose to regional stability. Most of them focus on the failures of national security policies, attempts to reform the national police and judicial systems, and international counternarcotics efforts. Local dynamics underpinning this national crisis, such as the relationships between criminal networks and local authorities and institutions, too often go overlooked. This study addresses this gap by examining the effects of illicit trafficking and criminal organizations within the three border municipalities of Guatemala: Sayaxché in the northern department of Petén, Gualán in the eastern department of Zacapa, and Malacatán in San Marcos in the west. These municipalities sit on important smuggling routes and are well-known by Guatemalan police, intelligence agencies, and local populations to be regional centers for organized crime. The authors chose to focus on these three cases because of the economic, demographic, and political differences among them, hypothesizing that those differences should also lead to variation in the communities’ relations with and impacts from local organized crime.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Border Security, Local Politics, and Narcotrafficking in Guatemala
Sayaxche
Gualan
Malacatan
Key Findings from the Case Studies
Implications and Recommendations for Public Policy
Postscript
Bibliography