Guatemala: Squeezed between Crime and Impunity

Fourteen years after the end of its civil war, Guatemala has become a paradise for crime that is deeply entrenched in the state and society, undermines institutions and thrives on extreme levels of impunity.

Guatemala: Squeezed between Crime and Impunity , the latest report from the International Crisis Group, warns that failure to address the root causes of the lengthy armed conflict, implement the 1996 peace agreement and dismantle clandestine security apparatuses has seriously corroded the country’s fundamental structures and opened the door to skyrocketing violent crime. An ineffective overhaul of the security forces after the civil war produced a corrupt and weak police force. Guatemala is one of the world’s most dangerous countries, with some 6,500 murders in 2009, more than the average yearly killings during the conflict and roughly twice the homicide rate of neighbouring Mexico. Read more>>>