Guatemala Elites and Organized Crime

ELITES AND CRIME / 1 SEP 2016

Guatemala’s elites are a mix of businessmen, politicians and security forces who, as these case studies show, regularly interact with organized crime in order to maintain and expand their power base.

About this Project

Elites and Organized Crime is a multiyear project financed by the International Development Research Centre that investigates the dynamics between organized crime and elites in four countries: Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Colombia.

Chapter 1

Guatemala Elites and Organized Crime: Introduction

ELITES AND CRIME / 1 SEP 2016

Guatemala is Central America’s most populous country and its largest economy. But an intransigent elite, an ambitious military and a weak state has opened the way for organized crime to…

Chapter 2

Guatemala Elites and Organized Crime: The 'Huistas'

ELITES AND CRIME / 1 SEP 2016

In the northwest corner of Guatemala, a little known criminal organization known as the "Huistas" dominates the underworld, in large part due its ties with businessmen, law enforcement officials and…

Chapter 3

Guatemala Elites and Organized Crime: The CICIG

CIACS / 1 SEP 2016

Like any arm of the justice system, the United Nations-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala - CICIG) had its battles with elites…

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