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Troubles Mounting in Guatemala
The trip to Guatemala by US President George W. Bush last month came at a critical time for that Central American nation of 13 million. Two thorny issues dominated the agenda of the bilateral meetings with Guatemalan counterpart Oscar Berger: public security and immigration. Results were few.
The visit came in the midst of that country’s worst security crisis since its 36-year civil war came to an end in 1996. The gangland-style murder on Guatemalan soil of three Salvadoran representatives to the Central American Parliament and their driver two months ago shocked the entire region. News that the alleged assassins were members of their own national police force further outraged Guatemalan society.
The subsequent killing of four policemen suspected of the murders, while in custody at a maximum security prison barely two days after their arrests, further embarrassed the government. Since then, a handful of new suspects, with alleged links to drug-trafficking, have been arrested and accused of masterminding both sets of killings.
Paradise for Organized Crime
Details of this case underscore the extent to which corruption and drug related crime plague institutions in Guatemala, and elsewhere in the isthmus. This institutional fragility prompted United Nations officials in late February to classify Guatemala as a “failed state.” Hector Rosada, a prominent Guatemalan political analyst went even further. He told the Salvadoran newspaper El Mundo that Guatemala constitutes a “Mafia-State,” where organized crime and the State amount to almost the same thing.
While investigations into the murders have yielded more questions than answers, mostobservers agree that the killings are related to organized crime and drug mafias. The government’s inability to mount a credible investigation into the deaths has raised suspicions of a massive cover-up, and deeply frustrated public opinion in Guatemala and in El Salvador where relatives of the victims have repeatedly demanded justice.
The entire episode shows that Central America has become an easy prey for criminal organizations involved in drug-related activities, who have been able to infiltrate the very institutions designed to provide security and protect citizens. According to several press reports, 75% of all the cocaine that reaches the US from Colombia passes through Guatemala (Miami Herald, 4/3/07; Los Angeles Times 4/3/07 New York Times 5/3/07).
American officials contend that Guatemala’s record on fighting drug lords leaves much to be desired. Furthermore, they report, several former military officers have been singled out as drug traffickers.
Anders Kompass, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights representative in Guatemala, told The Washington Post recently that Guatemala “is a paradise for organized crime, [where] the state apparatus is very weak, and impunity rates very high.”
Deporting criminals worsens “la situación”
The extent of corruption and criminal behaviour related to drugs has exacerbated the culture of violence bequeathed from the civil conflicts that scarred Central America in the 1980s, particularly in Guatemala and El Salvador. The climate of insecurity affecting the region—or, la situación—is further complicated by the US policy of deporting Central American migrants convicted of crimes in the United States.
The urgent security situation in Central America is worsened by shipping back hardened criminals who made their bones in the mean streets of Los Angeles, New York, or Washington, DC. The practice of deporting dangerous criminals to the region has intensified in the past few years.
For example, according to figures from the Salvadoran government, in 2004 the US deported 6,248 Salvadorans. Slightly over 2,000 of them had been convicted of crimes. Last year, the number of deportees rose to 14,395. Of those, a little over 3,000 were convicted criminals. Patterns are similar in neighbouring Guatemala and Honduras. The situation is further complicated by the scant information on the deportees provided to local police forces upon their repatriation.
The US should help
Deporting criminals worsens insecurity. Deportations in general are a problem too. Berger complained to Bush about the constant harassment by federal and local law enforcement endured by migrants. Days before Bush’s arrival, 300 Guatemalans were rounded up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and deported. Critics say immigration raids are conducted simply to appease anti-immigration zealots in the Republican Party.
Yet, the meetings between both leaders did not produce specific agreements, only announcements and promises. Bush revealed a proposed regional plan to fight narco-trafficking. The plan would include the US, Mexico and Central America. It entails financing and training specialized units to interdict drugs and fight organized crime.
On immigration, Bush made it clear that deportations would continue. He insisted they are part and parcel of compliance with existing laws. He argued that comprehensive immigration reform was the way forward, but said the issue required congressional approval. He hoped the matter could be resolved in August and that lawmakers will find a formula to normalize the legal status of millions of migrants in the US.
They should. Central America needs relief. Their economies are too dependent on remittances sent by migrants in the US to relatives back home. Massive deportations as a result of deadlock on immigration reform could wreak havoc on already strained social and economic fabric in Guatemala and Central America. A more compassionate immigration policy can provide that relief.
Troubles in Guatemala are mounting. Increasing public insecurity and violence, coupled with persistent high levels of poverty, could dramatically boost the number of illegal migrants heading north. Thousands of Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and Hondurans did once before fleeing war and natural disasters.
Carlos A. Rosales is Special Secretary to the President of El Salvador, former Central American Program Director at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, DC, and former Project Officer at FOCAL.