Abstract
In the last few years, Guatemala has emerged as a leading voice in the drug policy reform debate. This chapter sheds light on the roots of this shift in the national discourse and assesses its depth and potential implications. Our research will be presented in three parts. Part one explores the origins of Guatemala’s drug problem, its transformation into a pivotal transit country for cocaine trafficking at the end of the 1980s and the destructive impact of the externally driven counter-narcotic strategy. The second part analyzes the recent government-led rebuttal of the “War on Drugs” and its implications, both nationally and internationally. Finally, the third part evaluates the reach of this rhetorical shift, as well as the difficulties of its translation into effective policies at home. The study concludes by characterizing the country’s efforts to regain ownership over its own drug policy.
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Notes
- 1.
The country’s role in the production of opium and amphetamines will be dealt with in more depth in the next section.
- 2.
The report by the Historical Clarification Commission, published in 1999, concluded that 93 % of the human rights violations were perpetrated by the Armed Forces.
- 3.
Inexistent in the previous regime, although applicable only if the crime causes the death of one or more individuals (art. 52).
- 4.
In the previous situation, the maximum prison penalty was of 7 years (for international trafficking). The new law raises it to up to 20 years (art. 35).
- 5.
At 39.9 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, Guatemala is fifth, behind Honduras, Venezuela , Belize, and El Salvador.
- 6.
Some sources contend this number is an over-estimation, with 37,000 being closer to the reality in 1996.
- 7.
The Kaibiles are an elite military unit specializing in jungle warfare and counterinsurgency.
- 8.
Beyond path dependences, many other factors could be explored: economic constraints, information gaps, limited expertise in alternatives to law enforcement, etc. We hope this research will stimulate further investigation into these.
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Feilding, A., Ochoa, J.F. (2016). Drug Policy in Guatemala: Constraints and Opportunities. In: Labate, B., Cavnar, C., Rodrigues, T. (eds) Drug Policies and the Politics of Drugs in the Americas. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29082-9_4
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