Guatemala: The Military in a Supporting Role in the Fight Against Transnational Organized Crime

Abstract

This article examines the challenge from transnational criminal organizations and gangs in Guatemala, and the Guatemalan state’s response to that challenge. It focuses on the nation’s strategic importance as a transit zone for U.S.-bound narcotics, with routes controlled by a fragmented array of family-based smuggling organizations working for or with Mexican cartels. The work notes that the threat from violent street gangs is less than in neighboring Salvador and Honduras, and the government has made significant, if underappreciated, process in lowering the homicide rate. The article further notes progress in security sector reform, including efforts to replace paramilitary citizen security squadrons with national police, and a military which supports internal security efforts, including joint task forces with the police, but which is deferential to civilian authority. The article also finds Guatemala’s efforts at na- tional security planning, its use of an innovative “mothership” concept to extend the endurance of naval patrols in the Pacific, and the work of its financial intelligence unit (IVE) within the nation’s banking supervisory organization, worthy of recognition.

The paper recommends enhanced U.S. coordination with Guatemalan authorities, including both mil- itary and civilian officials, particularly if the U.S. expands deportations of Guatemalans with criminal priors. It also recommends continued support for the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), as well as expanded resource and information support for the country’s security forces, including training and professional military education engagement.