Newly released Wikileaks cables continue to reveal information about citizen insecurity in Guatemala. The cables, released to Spain’s El País on Wednesday, 14 April, detail conversations between US Ambassador McFarland and General Otto Pérez Molina and Roxana Baldetti of the right-wing Partido Patriota (Patriot Party, PP).
08GUATEMALA1163, dated 16 September 2008, covers a range of issues, though the focus is on the high and increasing levels of insecurity in the country. All three lamented the extent to which criminal organizations had infiltrated both the Policía Nacional Civil (National Civil Police, PNC) and the country in general, and agreed on the need for a concerted, non-partisan effort to pass rule of law reform bills and create “a common security vision and strategy to confront this national exigency.” McFarland also commented to the State Department on the need for increased political will in Guatemala to effectively combat insecurity and crime.
Pérez Molina and Baldetti, the PP’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, respectively, also suggested that narcotraffickers had been able to increase their numbers and gain strength in Guatemala during the administration of Oscar Berger (2003-2007). Colom, they argued, had not been able to reverse this trend, nor had he been able to increase citizen security. Baldetti commented that the ever-deteriorating security situation in the country could, in the end, work for Pérez Molina if he ran for president in 2011 since much of his platform focuses on security. Baldetti did, however, recognize that the price would be high.
Pérez Molina and Baldetti also commented on their views of some of the rule of law legislation and reform that would be required to improve citizen security. They told McFarland that “all state rule of law organs had been thoroughly penetrated by narcotraffickers and other organized criminals,” including the PNC. McFarland echoed this in his comments to the State Department, stating that “criminal penetration of the state’s rule of law and security institutions is generalized.” The PP’s solution to this will involve outside actors. Police reform and the cleansing of corrupt officers are necessary, but the police should not cleanse themselves. (more…)
