The Dilemma of Lawlessness: Organized Crime, Violence, Prosperity, and Security Along Guatemala’s Borders

Abstract

This book presents the reader with both facts and conclusions drawn from three case studies. Authors Ralph Espach, Daniel Haering, Javier Meléndez Quiñonez, and Miguel Castillo Giron focus on the lack of security along Guatemala’s borders and the serious narcotics trafficking, execution-style mass murders, and other severe public security issues that have developed as a result. This research looks closely at the effects of criminal organizations and illicit trafficking within the three particular border municipalities of Guatemala—Sayaxché, Gualán, and Malacatán. The three areas are compared demographically and economically, and through which a deeper analysis is developed on creating better border control through the behaviors of the local communities themselves.