Author: The Netherlands. Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Title: An Integrated Strategy to Combat Insecurity in Guatemala
Summary: Fifteen years after the formal end of its civil war, Guatemala is now one of the most violent countries on the planet. Alongside its neighbours in the “northern triangle” of Central America, Honduras and El Salvador, the end of war has not brought the onset of civil peace. Murder rates in Guatemala are extraordinarily high, reaching approximately 50 times that of the Netherlands, and even higher in particularly violent regions such as the Atlantic coast or the capital city. Surveys repeatedly reveal the intensity of public anxiety over insecurity, while the effects of this crime wave on the stability of the democratic system and on economic growth are becoming increasingly evident. Tackling this explosion in violence is by no means an easy task. In the case of Guatemala, it is now widely accepted that a history of inequality, authoritarianism, civil war and weak state institutions have provided the fertile ground for impunity. But the sheer complexity of the current crime wave also points to the influence of numerous recent trends. Gang violence has afflicted the big cities since the mid-1990s. Former military officers have been involved in major rackets that profited from links with the state. More recently, and most notoriously, drug-trafficking has penetrated the country, first through a number of local mafia, and nowadays in the shape of major Mexican cartels. With them has come the horrors of the “theatre of violence”: bombings, carjackings and mutilations. Guatemalan society, however, cannot be considered an innocent victim of these developments. Prominent cases have shown the ease with which hit-men can be employed, or criminal goods purchased. Lynching is still practiced in certain communities, though many citizens simply find it easier to retreat from public space and ignore the violence in their midst. No constituency, and least of all the business community, seems eager to increase the extremely low tax rates so as to fund better, more efficient security forces and a functioning judicial system. Numerous international efforts are now underway to support the fight against insecurity in Guatemala. The insignia effort of the United Nations, the Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), will celebrate its fourth year of existence in September this year. A recent visit to Guatemala City by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, meanwhile, marked the start of a programme of support for the country under the UN Peacebuilding Fund, with a first tranche of funding worth 10 million US dollars. The United States is supporting the fight against crime through the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), while the EU has unveiled a new four-year programme for institution-building in security and justice worth a total of 20 million euros. A major conference on regional security, organized by the System of Central American Integration (SICA), took place in June in Guatemala, and was attended by representatives from the US, the EU and a host of multilateral organizations. Other countries, particularly Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands, run intense bilateral support programmes in this field. In order to frame a structured policy for the reform of Guatemala’s security and justice institutions, the research team1, under assignment from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, carried out an extensive desk review and conducted two weeks’ of fieldwork in February 2011 in Guatemala (in the capital, Quetzaltenango and San Marcos). Interviews were carried out with embassies and UN agencies, heads of key institutions in the country’s judicial system, leading figures in the security forces, analysts of criminal trends, NGO and human rights experts, and officials in the prosecution service and police forces. Throughout this research, an emphasis was placed on three issues that should guide future Dutch policy in the country. These are: Analysis of the impact of the CICIG, and its possible future strategy ahead of a phased withdrawal; Assessment of how the capacities and effectiveness of Guatemalan institutions of security and justice can best be strengthened, and the role that the international community should play in this process; Exploration of the emerging trends of criminality in Guatemala, and the effectiveness of current and future responses to these dynamics. Our aim in developing this paper has also been to explore more broadly how, through its cooperation, the international community as a whole can contribute to improving the delivery of security and justice in Guatemala. Having noted a lack of coordination among international actors, we hope that this document can serve as a tool for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to encourage a more integrated, focused and coherent approach. To this end, initial consultations with diplomatic representatives in Guatemala have shown that considerable interest in such an initiative exists.
Details: The Netherlands: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, 2011. 38p.
Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 22, 2012 at
Year: 2011
Country: Guatemala
URL:
Shelf Number: 127262
Keywords:
Human Rights (Guatemala)rmed Conflict (Guatemala)Security (Guatemala)Violence |
