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.
Investigation Chapters
Guatemala Elites and Organized Crime: Introduction
Guatemala is Central Americas 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 flourish, especially since the return of democracy.
Guatemala Elites and Organized Crime: The ‘Huistas’
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 politicians.
Guatemala Elites and Organized Crime: The CICIG
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 who used their charm and their muscle to try to…
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.
