InSight Crime made a presentation recently regarding an investigation into cross-border crime and corruption in Guatemala.
Drug trafficking has been reconfigured in Guatemala. The large clans that traditionally dominated the business have broken up. Now the main actors are small groups consisting of members of public security forces, politicians and criminals, who fight to control a combination of land and maritime routes. Guatemala’s border departments illustrate these trends and are part of a region of the country where the anti-corruption struggle has not gained footing.
These were the central issues discussed during a seminar in which InSight Crime’s Co-director Steven Dudley and investigators Héctor Silva Ávalos and Alex Papadovassilakis presented the results of a long-term investigation on criminal dynamics within Guatemala’s border region. The discussion was moderated by Marielos Monzón, the general coordinator of Cycles of Updates for Journalists (Ciclos de Actualización para Periodistas -CAP).
The event was the first in a six-part series in which InSight Crime will present the results of this two-year project, focused on six countries located within two tri-border regions: Central America’s Northern Triangle and the Southern Cone’s Triple Frontier.
You can find out more about the event and follow the series by going here: InSight Crime Presents Guatemala Cross-Border Crime and Corruption Investigation
There is a more detailed piece in El Periódico, in Spanish, by the InSight Crime reporters Alex Papadovassilakis and Héctor Silva Ávalos, whose work contributed to the above presentation – go to Un alcalde y la violencia del narco en el Pácifico de Guatemala.
Categories: Corruption, Environment, Guatemala, Human Rights, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Land, Military, Poverty, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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