Guatemala: Political, Security, and Socio-
Economic Conditions and U.S. Relations
Maureen Taft-Morales
Specialist in Latin American Affairs
June 26, 2012
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R42580
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress
Guatemala: Political, Security, and Socio-Economic Conditions and U.S. Rela
Summary
Since the 1980s, Guatemala, the most populous country in Central America with a population just
over 14 million, has continued its transition from a centuries-long tradition of mostly autocratic
rule toward representative government. A democratic constitution was adopted in 1985, and a
democratically elected government was inaugurated in 1986. A 36-year civil war that ravaged
Guatemala ended in 1996.
This report provides an overview of Guatemala’s current political and economic conditions,
relations with the United States, and several issues likely to figure in future decisions by Congress
and the Administration regarding Guatemala. With respect to continued cooperation and foreign
assistance, these issues include security and governance; protection of human rights and human
rights conditions on some U.S. military aid to Guatemala; support for the International
Commission against Impunity in Guatemala; combating narcotics trafficking and organized
crime; trade relations; and intercountry adoption.
In November 2011, Otto Pérez Molina won the second-round presidential election run-off with
53.8% of the vote. He took office, along with the 158-member Congress, on January 14, 2012. A
former military commander who served during the civil war period, Pérez Molina faces concerns
from some regarding his role in the human rights abuses committed during that period.
Guatemala continues to be plagued by security issues related to narcotics trafficking and the rise
of organized crime, social inequality, and poverty. Upon taking office Pérez Molina announced a
controversial position to decriminalize drugs as one policy initiative to address Guatemala’s many
problems. Pérez Molina's proposal has failed to garner the support of other Central American
leaders, but he seems willing to continue pushing the debate forward. In his view,
decriminalization has to be gradual and strongly regulated, and it has to take place in the whole
region, including producer and consumer countries. In the meantime, Pérez Molina vows to
continue prosecuting and jailing drug-traffickers.
Economic growth fell in 2009, to 0.5%, as export demand from U.S. and other Central American
markets declined and foreign investment slowed amid the global recession. The economy
gradually recovered, up to 2.8% in 2010, and 3.8% in 2011, though this is expected to taper off
slightly in 2012. Agriculture contributes 13% of GDP and accounts for 26% of exports from
Guatemala. According to the World Bank, Guatemala has one of the most unequal income
distributions in the hemisphere. Guatemala is part of the U.S.-Central America-Dominican
Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).
Relations between Guatemala and the United States have traditionally been close, but they have
been strained at times by human rights and civil-military issues, long of interest to the U.S.
Congress. U.S. policy objectives in Guatemala include strengthening democratic institutions;
encouraging respect for human rights and the rule of law; supporting broad-based economic
growth, sustainable development, and mutually beneficial trade relations; combating drug
trafficking; and supporting continued Central American integration.
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Contents
Political Situation............................................................................................................................. 1
Security Conditions ......................................................................................................................... 3
Economic and Social Conditions..................................................................................................... 6
U.S. Relations With and Aid to Guatemala...................................................................................... 7
Congressional Concerns .................................................................................................................. 8
Protection of Human Rights and Conditions on U.S. Military Aid ........................................... 8
Conditions on U.S. Military Aid to Guatemala ................................................................... 9
International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala ..................................................... 10
Illicit Narcotics Trafficking and Other Organized Crime........................................................ 11
Trade........................................................................................................................................ 13
Intercountry Adoption ............................................................................................................. 14
Figures
Figure 1. Map of Guatemala............................................................................................................ 2
Tables
Table 1. U.S. Assistance to Guatemala by Account and Fiscal Year................................................ 7
Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 15
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Political Situation
Guatemalan national elections for president, Congress, and local officials were held on September
11, 2011. Former army general Otto Pérez Molina of the rightist Patriot Party (Partido Patriota,
PP) was inaugurated as president of Guatemala on January 14, 2012. He succeeded President
Álvaro Colom of the center-left National Unity of Hope (Unidad Nacional de Esperanza, UNE)
coalition. Pérez Molina is a controversial figure. He commanded army troops during the violent
counterinsurgency campaign of the 1980s, was director of military intelligence during the 1990s,
and has been linked by international human rights groups, the press, and others to human rights
violations, including death squads and major political assassinations.1 Pérez Molina is also known
as a military moderate who opposed then-President Jorge Serrano’s autogolpe (self-coup) in
1993, and was the military’s negotiator for the Peace Accords that ended Guatemala’s 36-year
civil war in 1996. As a member of the Guatemalan Congress, he has advocated for legal and
security reform, but has also been accused by the banking regulatory commission of involvement
in the siphoning of state funds.2 In March 2011, U.S. citizen Jennifer Harbury filed the first step
to trigger an investigation of Pérez Molina for his alleged role in the disappearance and murder of
her husband, guerrilla leader Efrain Bámaca, in 1992. Pérez Molina responded at the time that the
case had gone nowhere before, and that the new effort had to be politically motivated.3 During his
campaign, Pérez Molina pledged to combat crime with a “mano dura,” or iron fist, generally
interpreted in Latin America to mean the use of repressive tactics. The party he created, the
second-largest bloc in the previous legislature, generally opposed reforms proposed by the
government under former President Colom, such as laws on rural development and the Law
against the Illegal Accumulation of Wealth and Budget Expansion.4
Since taking office, Pérez Molina has taken several actions that, as one analyst put it, show
“surprisingly liberal inclinations,”5 in their support of judicial, social, and fiscal reform. Pérez
Molina has pledged to support the ongoing efforts of Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz, who
began to pursue aggressively cases against former military officials while she served the Colom
Administration. On January 26, 2012—shortly after Pérez Molina took office—a Guatemalan
judge ordered Efrain Rios Montt, dictator from the most violent civil war period from 1982 to
1983, to stand trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. On March 12, a former
Kaibil special forces officer was sentenced to over 6,000 years in prison for participating in the
1982 Dos Erres massacre of 201 men, women, and children. The Kaibiles, an elite special forces
unit of the army, allegedly committed extensive human rights violations during Guatemala’s civil
1 See for example, Manuel Roig-Franzia, “Choosing a Future From Tainted Pasts: Both Presidential Candidates in
Today’s Vote in Guatemala Have Links to Some of the Nation’s Most Painful Wounds,” Washington Post, November
4, 2007, p. A18; Susan C. Peacock, Adriana Beltrán, Hidden Powers in Post-Conflict Guatemala: Illegal Armed
Groups and the Forces Behind Them, Washington Office on Latin America, 2003, pp.19-20; Francisco Goldman, The
Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?, Grove Press, 2007, p. 385; and Tim Weiner, “Guatemalans Covered
up Killing of an American, U.S. Aides Say,” New York Times, March 24, 1996, p.1.
2 Kate Joynes, “Accused Guatemalan Congress Chief Sidelined; Fiscal Reform Delayed,” Global Insight Daily
Analysis, June 18, 2008.
3 “Jennifer Harbury Acciona Contra Pérez Molina,” Prensa Libre.com, March 23, 2011, translation by author.
4 International Crisis Group, Guatemala's Elections: Clean Polls, Dirty Politics, Policy Briefing, Latin America
Briefing No. 24, Bogota/Brussels, June 16, 2011, p. 4.
5 Robert Munks, "Further Civil War Abuse Trial Opens in Guatemala," IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis, March 14,
2012.
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war. On March 14 the government opened the trial of four former members of the Civil Self-
Defense Patrols and a military commissioner, on charges of involvement in another 1982
massacre that killed 256 Mayan Guatemalans.6 While human rights groups and other observers
applaud such efforts, they remain wary that efforts to prosecute former military officials for
human rights abuses might founder under President Pérez Molina, who has repeatedly denied that
the army committed genocide.7
Figure 1. Map of Guatemala
Source: Perry-Castaneda Library Map Col ection
Pérez Molina quickly created a Ministry of Social Development to implement social policy. The
ministry will oversee conditional cash transfer programs such as the “My Family Progresses” (Mi
Familia Progresa) program created in 2008 as the cornerstone of former President Colom’s
antipoverty agenda. It includes food pantries and cash payments of $40 per month for nearly
815,000 poor families to ensure children are in school and receive vaccines regularly.8 Although
those programs were popular, they were criticized for not being transparent enough; the
establishment of a ministry is meant to address that issue.
In March 2012, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised “the quick work that
President Pérez Molina in Guatemala has shown in creating a tax system aimed at beginning to
collect taxes from the elites in that country.”9 Guatemala has one of the lowest tax collection rates
6 Robert Munks, op. cit.
7 A truth commission supported by the United Nations determined that state security forces were responsible for most
of the 200,000 deaths during the civil war, and that violence targeted at the indigenous Mayan population amounted to
genocide because the entire population was targeted.
8 Ezra Fieser, “Guatemala’s Presidential Divorce of Convenience,” Christian Science Monitor, June 17, 2011.
9 Federal Information & News Dispatach, Inc., Remarks at the Transparency International-USA's Annual Integrity
(continued...)
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in Latin America (11.2% of of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, according to the
Department of State), and the private sector has fiercely resisted fiscal reform initiatives designed
to provide the government with more resources to strengthen institutions and fight corruption.
The two bills proposed by President Pérez Molina and passed by the legislature in February are
expected to provide 1.1% to 1.3% of GDP in additional revenue for social programs and
improvements in security.10
Perhaps most surprisingly for a politician who promotes an “iron fist” policy toward crime,
President Pérez Molina said in February that the region needs to consider legalizing the use and
transport of drugs. Arguing that the United States has failed to curb illegal drug consumption,
Pérez Molina has stated that his country has no choice but to seek alternatives to the current “war
on drugs,” in order to stem violence related to drug trafficking in Guatemala and in neighboring
countries. U.S. officials oppose the idea, stating that drug legalization would not stop organized
criminal elements from trafficking weapons and people.11
Land use will likely continue to be a contentious issue during the new administration. On March
27, thousands of indigenous people marched over 120 miles to the capital to meet with President
Pérez Molina and to demand the government settle land conflicts. The group that organized the
march, the Committee for Peasant Unity, said its principal demands included “an end to the
evictions and criminal prosecution of Indians, a pardon for farm debts of more than … ($38.96
million) affecting more than 100,000 families, access to land and the end of mining in the
region.” Mining issues are especially contentious, and often violent, throughout the region.
Governments often see mines as a potential source of revenue for poverty reduction and social
programs. Yet indigenous populations, which might be the beneficiaries of such programs, often
object to mining under current conditions because they see it as violating their ancestral land
rights, removing them from and/or damaging their source of livelihood, and/or excluding them
from the decision making process as to how profits from mines in their communities should be
spent.
Security Conditions
The focus of security issues in Guatemala has shifted from the violence of civil conflict to high
levels of crime over the past quarter century. Weak institutions, remote areas with little effective
state presence, and the country’s geographic position between the drug producing nations of
South America and consumers in the United States have made Guatemala a prime target for drug
traffickers and other organized criminal groups. Crime and violence have been extremely high in
recent years and officials estimate that up to 60% of Guatemalan territory may now be under the
effective control of drug traffickers.12 The Guatemalan government has made some progress in
addressing crime and impunity, with the help of the U.N.-supported Commission Against
Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The country’s fragmented political system, inconsistent political
(...continued)
Award, State Dept. Press Releases and Documents, Remarks, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, March 23,
2012.
10 "Country Report: Guatemala," Economist Intelligence Unit, March 2012, pp. 3-5.
11 Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, “Guatemala President Weighs Drug Legalization, Blames US For Not Reducing
Consumption,” Associated Press, February 14, 2012.
12 “Drug Traffickers Have Stranglehold on Guatemala Says Top Prosecutor,” El País, February 23, 2011.
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will, and weak judicial and security institutions remain serious obstacles to addressing the
problem adequately.
In addition, Guatemala’s widespread poverty and high levels of inequality and unemployment
make much of its population especially vulnerable to crime. Almost one in four (23.3%)
Guatemalan respondents in a 2010 survey reported being the victim of a crime in the previous
year, ranking Guatemala only behind El Salvador among the Central American nations. The rate
of homicides in Guatemala in 2010 was about 41 per 100,000 inhabitants, placing Guatemala in
the middle of the region, at fourth of seven. Though still relatively high, the 2010 homicide rate
was the lowest it had been since 2005.13
Some crime is attributed to youth gangs, ranging from localized groups to national groups with
international ties, including to gangs in the United States. The regions within Guatemala
evidencing the highest murder rates, however, tend to be those where organized criminal groups
and drug traffickers, not gangs, are most active.14
In response to the high level of violence, a number of municipalities have asked for military
troops to augment their ineffective police forces; the Guatemalan government, as under the
previous four administrations, is using a constitutional clause to have the army “temporarily”
support the police in combating rising crime. The day following his inauguration, the new
president stated, “Today, publicly, I want to lay out for the army an important goal of
collaborating, coordinating and cooperating with other security institutions, and that is to put an
end to the external threats and contribute to neutralizing illegal armed groups by means of
military power.”15
Many observers believe the executive branch has exhibited effective control over the military.
Nonetheless, there remains concern among human rights advocates and other analysts because of
the country’s ongoing dependence on the military to provide internal security, despite the peace
accords’ call for the army to focus solely on external threats, “the government's failure to
investigate and punish unlawful killings committed by members of the security forces,”16 and
now, Pérez Molina’s high rank in the military during the civil war.
Despite efforts to develop a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to security, the
government’s actions have often been reactive and dependent on the military. For example,
former President Colom declared a “state of siege” in the northern departments of Alta Verapaz
and Petén, the latter after an alleged massacre by the Mexican gang Los Zetas in 2011. The
13 Crime victimization rates from Americas Barometer survey data from 2010 by the Latin American Public Opinion
Project of Vanderbilt University; homicide rates from U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime; for tables and further
information, see CRS Report R41731, Central America Regional Security Initiative: Background and Policy Issues for
Congress, by Peter J. Meyer and Clare Ribando Seelke (data on pp. 4-5).
14 Reports by Washington Office on Latin America and Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, and UNODC, as
cited in CRS Report RL34112, Gangs in Central America, by Clare Ribando Seelke, p. 5.
15 CNN Wire Staff, “Guatemala's President Calls on Troops to 'Neutralize' Organized Crime," CNN.com, January 16,
2012.
16 U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2010 Human Rights Reports:
Guatemala, 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, April 8, 2011, p. 1,
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/wha/154507.htm.
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decrees effectively put the army in control, allowing security forces to perform warrantless
searches, break up public meetings, and arrest suspects.17
Nonetheless, Guatemalan efforts to reduce impunity of security forces have seen enough success
to inspire cautious optimism among some analysts, including some human rights advocates.
Guatemalan judicial officials work with CICIG (see section on “International Commission
against Impunity in Guatemala” below) to investigate and prosecute illegal groups and
clandestine structures, including some through which many former and current military officers
allegedly engage in human rights violations, drug trafficking, and organized crime.
For over four years, [CICIG] has spurred a series of criminal investigations compromising
some of the country’s most powerful figures – despite occasional setbacks. A new head of
the national prosecution service has managed to shape an extraordinary turnaround, ordering
the arrest of several ‘untouchable’ druglords, as well as a former president and general
accused of atrocities during the civil war. Drug interdictions have soared; the murder rate has
fallen, albeit slightly; even impunity rates for serious crimes are down.
This progress cannot hide the dilapidation of the country’s security and justice institutions,
… nor the acute fear of crime that is felt by many Guatemalans. But in combination with the
Central American region’s determination to address its vulnerabilities to transnational crime,
it does offer some reason to believe that the crisis may be contained.18
Others acknowledge the accomplishments to date, but express serious reservations. CICIG’s
director, Francisco Dall’Anese, noted that CICIG can “build up the state, and create the legal
conditions for the thing to function. Everything else depends on the willingness of the
Guatemalans…. if you end up with the best system in Latin America and it is not used properly or
is used for other purposes, there has been no progress.”19 Dall’Anese, a former attorney general of
Costa Rica, also noted the limited resources of Guatemala and the other Central American
nations: “Very often the budget of a country in Central America … is less than the petty cash fund
of a criminal organization.”20 One way to address the inequity of resources, he suggested, might
be to create regional courts, to share resources and capacity. These and other ideas are being
explored by Guatemala and its neighbors.
Guatemala is part of Central America’s “Northern Triangle” region, along with El Salvador and
Honduras. These countries have all felt the impact of the Mexican government’s campaign
against drug-trafficking organizations, as some of those organizations move their operations into
their territory and operate across borders. In response, the Northern Triangle countries have
generally adopted aggressive tactics, supplanting their weak police forces with military forces.
The Central American nations are also seeking to improve regional efforts. They have various
organizations through which they address security, such as the Central American Integration
System (known by its Spanish acronym, SICA) and the Central American Armed Forces
Conference (CFAC, to which only El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, plus the
17 “Country Report: Guatemala,” Economist Intelligence Unit, June 2011.
18 Ivan Briscoe and Marlies Stappers, Breaking the Wave: Critical Steps in the Fight against Crime in Guatemala,
Clingendael Institute, Impunity Watch, January 2012, p. 3.
19 Daniel Pacheco, Guatemala Must Fight Impunity from Within: CICIG Director, In Sight: Organized Crime in the
Americas, June 1, 2012, http://www.insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/2711-guatemala-must-fight-impunity-
from-within-cicig-director.
20 Ibid.
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Dominican Republic, belong, but not Belize, Costa Rica, or Panama). Translating theoretical
agreement on the need to cooperate on security matters into an operational institutional
framework has proved difficult, however, in the face of differing priorities and approaches, and
border and other types of disputes within the region.21
Economic and Social Conditions
With a 2010 gross national income of $39.4 billion and a per capita income of $2,740, Guatemala
is considered a lower middle income developing economy by the World Bank.22 The agriculture
sector’s relative share of the economy has fallen as manufacturing and other sectors have grown.
Guatemala’s top exports now include products from the manufacturing sector, including
processed foods and knit and woven apparel, in addition to the traditional agricultural products of
coffee, sugar, and bananas.23 The country has maintained generally sound macroeconomic
policies, and enjoyed annual GDP growth rates of over 5% before the economy slowed as a result
of the onset of the global financial crisis and U.S. recession. Significant declines in exports,
remittances, and foreign direct investment slowed growth to 3.3% in 2008 and 0.5% in 2009
(from 6.3% in 2007). The Guatemalan economy began to recover in 2010, with growth of 2.8%,
reaching an estimated 3.8% growth in 2011. Economic analysts expect growth to decelerate to
3.2% in 2012 along with slower growth world-wide.24
Improvements in political and macroeconomic stability in Guatemala have done little to improve
levels of poverty and inequality, which are among the highest in the region. Although a World
Bank study found that Guatemala reduced poverty by five points between 2000 and 2006, from
56% to 51%, extreme poverty remained roughly unchanged at 15%.25 Moreover, the U.N. World
Food Program asserts that poverty and extreme poverty rates began to increase again in 2007 as a
result of high food prices, rising to 54% and 20%, respectively. This trend likely continued in the
aftermath of the global financial crisis. Guatemala’s income distribution is one of the most
unequal in the hemisphere: the wealthiest 10% consume over 47% of Guatemala’s total income,
while the poorest 10% account for just 1%.26
Guatemala’s social development indicators often fall below those of countries with lower per
capita incomes.27 Illiteracy is at 30%, the infant mortality rate is 25 per 1,000, and chronic child
malnutrition is at about 50%, the fourth-highest rate in the world.28 This economic and social
marginalization disproportionately affects Guatemala’s indigenous population—child
21 Latin American Newsletters, "Central America: Prospects for a New US-backed Regional Scheme," Latin American
Security & Strategic Review, no. SSR-11-02 (February 2011).
22 World Bank data online, at http://data.worldbank.org/country/guatemala, accessed March 29, 2012.
23 Guatemalan National Statistics Institute data, as presented by Global Trade Atlas, June 2011.
24 Economist Intelligence Unit, March 2012, op.cit., pp. 3,16.
25 World Bank, “Guatemala: Country Brief,” October 8, 2010.
26U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the
Caribbean, 2011, December 2 01 1, p. 68.
27 U.S. Department of State, “Background Note: Guatemala,” March 22, 2010.
28 World Bank, Guatemala Poverty Assessment, Report No. 43920-GT, Washington, DC, March 18, 2009; and World
Food Programme, Guatemala Overview at http://www.wfp.org/countries/Guatemala/Overview, accessed Oct. 6, 2011.
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malnutrition among the indigenous is almost 70%.29 Indigenous peoples comprise 24 different
ethnolinguistic groups and account for roughly half of Guatemala’s 14.7 million people.
U.S. Relations With and Aid to Guatemala
Relations between the United States and Guatemala traditionally have been close, but there has
been friction at times over human rights and civil/military issues. Addressing security and
governance challenges are top bilateral issues. Related programs assist Guatemala in combating
narcotics trafficking, preventing transnational crime, stabilizing and reforming the security sector,
confronting the challenges of growing crime and gang violence, and building the capacity of both
the government and civil society.30
Noting that “[i]nadequate health and education services, high levels of inequality and poverty,
chronic malnutrition and food insecurity, and a lack of economic opportunities provide fertile
ground for criminal organizations,” the Obama Administration allotted the largest portion of its
FY2012 foreign assistance request for Guatemala to education, health, and economic growth
programs. These priorities remain the same in the overall distribution of FY2013 funding,
although education and health programs were cut by about $11 million.
Table 1. U.S. Assistance to Guatemala by Account and Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year
Increase /
Decrease
(2012 Est.
2012
2013
to 2013
($ in thousands)
2011 Actual
Estimate
Request
Req.)
TOTAL
110,161
95,185
93,570
-1,615
Development Assistance
49,325
46,325
56,000
9,675
Food for Peace Title II
38,085
25,000
17,000
-8,000
Foreign Military Financing
499
500
750
250
Global Health Programs - USAID
18,068
17,600
17,100
-500
International Military Education
192
760
720
-40
and Training
International Narcotics Control
3,992
5,000
2,000
-3,000
and Law Enforcement
Source: Congressional Budget Justification, Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2013
The requested total for FY2013 is $93.6 million, and includes $56 million for Development
Assistance; $17 million in Food for Peace title II programs; $750,000 for Foreign Military
Financing; $17.1 million for USAID Global Health Programs; $720,000 for International Military
Education and Training; and $2 million for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement
(see Table 1). This represents an overall decrease of $1.6 million from FY2012 funding.
29 World Food Programme, op. cit.
30 U.S. Department of State, Congressional Budget Justification: Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2012, Annex:
Regional Perspectives, 2012, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/158268.pdf.
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Congressional Concerns
Protection of Human Rights and Conditions on U.S. Military Aid
During most of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war, the Guatemalan military was in power and
engaged in violent repression against civil society organizations, and in gross violations of the
human rights of its citizens, especially its majority indigenous population. Although Guatemala
established a civilian democratic government in 1986, it took another 10 years to end the
violence, during which time the military continued to engage in repression and violations of
human rights. Civilians have governed Guatemala for almost 26 years now, making notable gains,
such as carrying out significant military and police reforms and generally exerting effective
control over the security forces. Nonetheless, democratic institutions remain fragile, and security
forces continue to enjoy widespread impunity for human rights and other crimes.
According to the U.S. State Department’s most recent Human Rights report on Guatemala,
Human rights abuses included the following: the government's failure to investigate and
punish unlawful killings committed by members of the security forces; widespread societal
violence, including numerous killings; corruption and substantial inadequacies in the police
and judicial sectors; police involvement in serious crimes, including unlawful killings, drug
trafficking, and extortion; impunity for criminal activity; harsh and dangerous prison
conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; failure of the judicial system to ensure full and
timely investigations and fair trials; failure to protect judicial sector officials, witnesses, and
civil society representatives from intimidation; threats and intimidation against, and killings
of, journalists and trade unionists; discrimination and violence against women; trafficking in
persons; discrimination against indigenous communities; discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation and gender identity; and ineffective enforcement of labor laws and child
labor provisions.31
The Guatemalan government and the international community are continuing to combat military
impunity for human rights violations and other crime through support of CICIG, rule of law,
judicial and police reform, and other types of democracy-strengthening programs.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Guatemala in mid-March. Commissioner
Navi Pillay commended Guatemala for the direction it is taking to address “staggering impunity,”
including, in the past two years, the first successful prosecution of cases for past human rights
violations, and the ratification of the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the International
Criminal Court.32 She also stated that the government must operate within the framework of the
Peace Accords, the rule of law, and respect for the human rights of all Guatemalans as it attacks
the country’s high levels of insecurity, crime, and violence. Although indigenous people
constitute the majority of the population, she said, they continue to be subject to social and
economic exclusion and denial of their human rights. The U.N. official expressed particular
concern over the negative impact of economic investment projects on the rights of indigenous
peoples.
31 U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2010 Human Rights Reports:
Guatemala, 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, April 8, 2011, p. 1,
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/wha/154507.htm.
32 "Guatemala Must Address Rule Of Law Challenges: UN," India Blooms News Service, March 17, 2012.
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In August 2011, a Guatemalan court sentenced four former soldiers to over 6,000 years each in
prison for a 1982 massacre of hundreds of civilians and crimes against humanity during the
country’s civil war.33 This was only the second time a trial was held in Guatemala relating to a
civil war massacre. In June 2011, the Colom Administration arrested two high level security
figures for their alleged roles in civil war crimes. Guatemala’s office of public prosecutions has
accused retired General Hector Mario Lopez Fuentes, the former chief of the armed forces under
dictator Rios Montt, of being the intellectual author behind the murder of over 300 indigenous
Mayan civilians in the Ixil region during that period.34 As mentioned above, the Pérez Molina
Administration has already begun to prosecute several former members of the military, including
Rios Montt, for human rights crimes committed during the civil war.
Conditions on U.S. Military Aid to Guatemala
In 1980, President George H. W. Bush suspended overt military aid to Guatemala because of
concerns over human rights abuses allegedly committed by Guatemalan security forces. In 2005,
the United States began to allow Foreign Military Sales to Guatemala in recognition of progress
the Guatemalan government had made in reforming the military.35 Since 2008, Congress has
allowed Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and International Military Education and Training
(IMET) to Guatemala, but only to certain components of the armed forces, and with human rights
conditions attached in the foreign assistance appropriations acts.
Current conditions allow expanded IMET, for civilian personnel to be trained in defense matters
such as oversight and management. Regular IMET, for military personnel, and FMF are only
allowed for the Guatemalan Air Force, Navy, and the Army Corps of Engineers, and only for
training to improve disaster response capabilities and to participate in international peacekeeping
operations. Before IMET and FMF funds can be released to Guatemala, the Secretary of State
must certify that the Air Force, Navy, and the Army Corps of Engineers are respecting
internationally recognized human rights and cooperating with civilian judicial investigations and
prosecutions of current and retired military personnel who have been credibly alleged to have
committed violations of such rights and with CICIG.
The Pérez Molina administration, like previous Guatemalan governments, has been pressing the
United States to drop those conditions and provide increased military aid to the army. The Obama
Administration’s request for foreign aid for FY2013 does not include proposed funding for the
Guatemalan army, except for the Army Corps of Engineering as allowed in previous years.
The Senate report accompanying the FY2013 foreign operations appropriations bill (S.Rept. 112-
172, to accompany S. 3241) supports assistance for the Guatemalan coast guard, navy, and air
force to enhance regional naval cooperation, maritime, and border security. It says the
Appropriations Committee will consider a future budget request for assistance to the Guatemalan
military if the army
33 Ken Ellingwood, “Rights Groups Praise Troops' Trials; Guatemala Convicts Four Ex-Soldiers in a 1982 Massacre
during the Brutal Civil War,” Los Angeles Times, August 4, 2011.
34 “Guatemala: Ex-Armed Forces Chief Lopez Fuentes Arrested,” BBC News, June 18, 2011.
35 Ibid; John Hendren, “Guatemala Gets U.S. Military Aid; A 15-Year Freeze on the Funds because of Human Rights
Abuses is Lifted in Recognition of Reforms,” Los Angeles Times, March 25, 2005.
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has a narrowly defined mission focused on border security and external threats, and a
timetable for ending the army’s involvement in internal law enforcement; is cooperating
fully with civilian investigations and prosecutions of human rights cases involving current
and retired military officers of whatever rank, with the Inter-American Court on Human
Rights, and with CICIG, including providing timely access for investigators to witnesses,
documents, forensic evidence, and other relevant information; and is publicly disclosing all
military archival documents relating to the internal armed conflict in a timely manner in
response to requests by civilian judicial authorities.
The Senate committee would require the Secretary of State to submit a report within 180 days of
the bill’s enactment, assessing the army’s progress in meeting the stated requirements, detailing
any additional steps the army should take, and identifying the quantitative and qualitative
indicators used to measure progress. The report should also include the number of human rights
cases in which military personnel have been prosecuted and appropriately punished, and the
extent of the army’s cooperation in such cases; the extent of military archival documents publicly
disclosed by the army; and the extent of the army’s involvement in internal law enforcement.
The House report (H.Rept. 112-494, to accompany H.R. 5857) states support for the FY2013
budget request for Guatemala, noting that no funds are requested for the Army except for the
Army Corps of Engineers and for IMET courses. The Appropriations Committee states that if any
request for new types of military aid is requested, the Administration must submit a notification
with a detailed justification describing steps made to address development of a narrowly defined
mission for the army focused on border security and external threats; implementation of a reform
strategy that has broad support within Guatemalan society; demonstration of respect for human
rights; cooperation with civilian investigations and prosecutions of cases involving current and
retired officers and with the CICIG; and public disclosure of all military archives pertaining to the
internal armed conflict.
The Department of Defense provides military assistance, mostly for counternarcotics programs,
some of which is not subject to the human rights conditions described above, as it is authorized
through the defense appropriations, rather than through the foreign assistance appropriations acts.
DOD military assistance to Guatemala is subject to requirements for vetting participants to
exclude those with records of human rights violations. These are known as Leahy conditions,
after the Senator who incorporated them into legislation. In FY2009-2010, the Department of
Defense spent $3.5 million on counternarcotics operations centers in Guatemala, including
$754,000 for a base for the Guatemalan army’s Kaibil special forces.36 As mentioned above, the
Kaibiles are alleged to have committed extensive human rights violations during Guatemala’s
civil war. Four former Kaibiles were sentenced in 2011, another in March 2012, and another 12
remain fugitives from justice, for their roles in the 1982 Dos Erres massacre. In addition, many
ex-Kaibiles are reported to be members of the Mexican Los Zetas criminal organization.
International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala
The United States and other donors support the International Commission against Impunity in
Guatemala (CICIG), which was created in 2007 under the auspices of the United Nations. The
36 Michael Vickers, Asst. Sec. of Defense, FY2009 Section 1022(a) Report, Department of Defense, Letter to Hon. Ike
Skelton, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, February 17, 2010, p. 25, and Michele Flournoy, Under Sec. of
Defense, Fiscal Year 2010 DoD Foreign Counterdrug Activity Report, Department of Defense, Letter to Hon. Carl
Levin, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, April 4, 2011, p. 7.
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commission’s mandate is to help Guatemala dismantle illegal groups and clandestine structures
responsible for organized crime, human rights violations, and other crimes through investigations
and prosecutions. After its first year of operation, CICIG noted that the Guatemalan government
faced enormous challenges, but had begun to clean up the security forces and strengthen civil
institutions.37 Since then, CICIG has helped Guatemala investigate and prosecute important cases;
a number of former high-level officials have been charged with corruption and are facing trials.38
The Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC) and CICIG officials arrested one of the PNC’s
former directors and five other serving or retired police officers in 2010. They are charged with
involvement in extrajudicial killings in 2009. CICIG has helped prevent a number of individuals
with significant ties to corruption and/or organized crime from being appointed to senior
positions in the Guatemalan state, and the Guatemalan government has approved CICIG-
recommended legislative reforms.39
Nonetheless, CICIG and reform-minded elements of the government reportedly continue to be
thwarted regularly by vested interests such as corrupt law enforcement and other public officials
with alleged ties to criminal organizations. CICIG helped the Guatemalan judicial system to
extradite, investigate, and prosecute former President Alfonso Portillo (2000-2004) for allegedly
embezzling $15 million in government funds, only to have a panel of judges dismiss the charges
this past May with reasoning that CICIG said was “neither valid nor logical.”40 Cases such as this
demonstrate both the progress that has been made with CICIG’s assistance, and the obstacles to
reform still remaining. CICIG’s term is currently set to expire in September 2013; President Pérez
Molina has proposed CICIG’s term be extended by two additional years beyond that.
Congress recommended the Obama Administration allocate $5 million in International Narcotics
Control and Law Enforcement funds for CICIG in FY2012.41
Illicit Narcotics Trafficking and Other Organized Crime42
In recent years Congress has become increasingly concerned over the increase in drug trafficking-
related violence across Central America. It first appropriated higher levels of assistance for these
countries to combat organized crime and drug trafficking through the Mérida Initiative, created
mostly to help Mexico, then, beginning in FY2010, through the Central America Regional
Security Initiative (CARSI).
37 International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, One Year Later, September 2008, Guatemala, available at
http://www.cicig.org/Publications.html.
38 Frank Bajak and Juan Carlos Llorca, "U.N.-backed Investigators Shake up Guatemala," Associated Press, November
14, 2010.
39 Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (CICIG), Tercer Año de Labores, September 2010.
40 CICIG, "Apela Sentencia Absolutoria del ex Presidente Portillo y Dos ex Ministros," press release no. 041, May 30,
2011, translation by author; and “Impunity in Guatemala: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back,” Economist, June 8,
2011.
41 Joint Explanatory Statement for Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012, P.L. 112-74,
http://rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF_112_1/legislativetext/HR2055crSOM/psConference%20Div%20I%20-
%20SOM%20OCR.pdf
42 Information in this section drawn from U.S. Department of State: International Narcotics Control Strategy Report:
Guatemala, volume II, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes, March 2011, and Money Laundering and Financial
Crimes Country Database: Guatemala, May 2011.
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The end of Guatemala’s civil war roughly coincided with the spread of drug trafficking rings
throughout Central America. Many former combatants shifted into drug trafficking and other
organized crime. A weak judicial system, with inadequate enforcement of laws and widespread
impunity, has fostered the growth of widespread corruption and high levels of criminal activities
in Guatemala. Partly as a consequence of having one of the lowest tax collection rates in Latin
America, and a private sector that resists fiscal reform, the Guatemalan government has been
unable to dedicate adequate resources to strengthening judicial institutions and fighting
corruption. Furthermore, in part because of the human rights violations the armed forces
committed during the civil war, the military was removed from remote areas such as Quiche and
Izabal at the war’s end. Since that time, drug traffickers have taken advantage of the lack of a law
enforcement presence in those areas to conduct their operations. Additionally, as Mexico
increases its counter-narcotics efforts against them, Mexican drug cartels have expanded into
Guatemala.
Guatemala is a transshipment point for cocaine and heroin trafficked from South America to the
United States, an activity increasingly linked to arms trafficking, according to the U.S.
Department of State. Money from narcotics trafficking and other illicit activities is laundered in
Guatemala. Guatemala is a minor producer of opium poppy exported to Mexico, and of marijuana
produced for domestic consumption.
President Pérez Molina invited the other Central American presidents to discuss a major revision
of counternarcotics policies and laws. Pérez Molina said he hoped to have a unified regional
approach at the Summit of the Americas in April. But the presidents of El Salvador, Nicaragua,
and Honduras apparently cancelled their attendance at the last minute without explanation, and
then issued a statement on March 30 saying they oppose legalization of drugs and continue to
support regional efforts to combat narcotics trafficking.43 The three leaders present at the March
25 meeting, Ricardo Martinelli of Panama and Laura Chincilla of Costa Rica, along with Pérez
Molina, did not issue a policy declaration, but agreed to discuss several proposals further at a
meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA). The proposals include the
decriminalization of drugs under certain conditions; creation of a regional penal court to handle
drug trafficking cases; and compensation from drug-consuming nations—mainly the United
States—for each shipment of drugs seized in Central America, and for the destruction of poppy
and marijuana crops.
Pérez Molina has stated his government’s position as fostering a global intergovernmental
dialogue based on global regulations, “which means that consumption and production should be
legalized but within certain limits and conditions.” He also said that drug abuse, like alcoholism
and tobacco use, “should be treated as public health problems, not criminal justice issues.”44
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos had already put drug legalization and decriminalization
on the agenda of the Summit of the Americas, which President Obama and a majority of other
heads of state from the Americas attended in April 2012. Some of the other leaders criticized U.S.
counternarcotics policy and urged a reconsideration of the so-called war on drugs. While
President Obama listened to the arguments, he said he did not agree that decriminalization was a
43 "Update:APNewsNow," AP, March 31, 2012.
44 Otto Pérez Molina, "We Have to Find New Solutions to Latin America's Drugs Nightmare; Narcotics Should be
Legally Available - in a Highly Regulated Market, Argues the President of Guatemala," The Guardian, April 7, 2012.
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solution to the problem, and the summit ended without any joint declaration.45 Presidents Obama
and Pérez Molina met briefly at the summit.
Trade
Guatemala and the United States have significant trade relations. Since the Dominican Republic-
Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) began to be implemented in
2006, bilateral trade has expanded by 56%—mostly on the U.S. side. Total U.S.-Guatemalan
trade in 2011 was $10.3 billion. U.S. exports to Guatemala amounted to about $6.2 billion, an
increase of over 38% from 2010. Oil, machinery, plastics, cereals, paper products, and
automobiles and parts accounted for the majority of U.S. exports. U.S. imports from Guatemala
amounted to about $4.1 billion, with knit and woven apparel, coffee, fruit, precious metals, and
sugar accounting for the majority. The United States is Guatemala’s top trading partner and
Guatemala is the United States 49th-largest trading partner.46 Supporters of CAFTA-DR point to
reforms it spurred in transparency, customs administration, intellectual property rights, and
government regulation. Critics note that the commercial balance between the two countries
previously favored Guatemala, and the balance has shifted in favor of the United States, with
Guatemala registering its first trade deficit in a decade after CAFTA-DR was signed. According
to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) data, U.S. exports to Guatemala increased by 56.9% from
2005 (pre-CAFTA-DR) to 2010, while during the same period, Guatemalan exports to the United
States increased by only 2.5%.47 This is largely because Guatemalan exports to the United States
received unilateral trade preferences before CAFTA-DR was implemented.
The United States filed a case against Guatemala under CAFTA-DR in 2010, “the first labor case
the United States has ever brought against a trade agreement partner,” according to the office of
the USTR.48 In response to submissions filed by six Guatemalan unions and the AFL-CIO in
2008, the USTR conducted an investigation and found that “it appears that the Government of
Guatemala is failing to meet its obligations under [CAFTA-DR] with respect to effective
enforcement of Guatemalan labor laws related to the right of association, the right to organize and
bargain collectively, and acceptable conditions of work.” The USTR also expressed “grave” U.S.
concerns regarding labor-related violence in Guatemala, “which is serious and apparently
deteriorating.” After informal discussions and formal consultations with the Guatemalan
government and the Free Trade Commission failed to produce an adequate enforcement plan, the
United States requested the establishment of an arbitral panel in August 2011.49 As of April 2012,
the panel had yet to be established.
45 Frank Bajak and Vivian Sequera, "Cuba Split Leaves Summit Without Declaration," The Miami Herald, April 14,
2012.
46 Preceding data in this paragraph from: U.S. Department of Commerce data, as presented by Global Trade Atlas,
April 2012. For further information, see CRS Report R42468, The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States
Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA DR): Developments in Trade and Investment, by J. F. Hornbeck.
47 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Guatemala: U.S.-Guatemala Trade Facts, http://www.ustr.gov/countries-
regions/americas/guatemala, accessed April 26, 2012.
48 Quotes in this paragraph from: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, USTR Kirk Announces Labor Rights Trade
Enforcement Case Against Guatemala, Press release, Washington, PA, July 2010.
49 Letter from Ron Kirk, U.S. Trade Representative, to Hon. Luis Velasquez, Minister of Economy, Guatemala, August
9, 2011, http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/3042.
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Intercountry Adoption50
U.S. laws and policies concerning intercountry adoption are designed to protect children. They
are intended to make sure that all of the children put up for adoption are truly orphans, and have
not been bought; kidnapped; or subjected to human trafficking, smuggling, or other illegal
activities. Currently, the only cases of adoptions by U.S. citizens of Guatemalan children that are
permitted are those that were already in-process in Guatemala on December 31, 2007.51 There are
approximately 460 cases still pending. The U.S. and Guatemalan governments are working
together, meeting almost daily, to determine the status of these cases and to resolve the pending
cases.52
The United States is a signatory of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and
Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (referred to hereafter as the Convention). The
goal of the Convention is to eliminate confusion and delays caused by differences among the laws
and practices of different countries, and to ensure transparency in adoptions to prevent human
trafficking, child stealing, or child selling.53 As of March 19, 2012, the Convention has entered
into force in 82 countries. Notably, countries can sign and ratify the Convention, but until the
country has the laws and procedures in place to implement the Convention, the Convention
cannot enter into force in the country.
The Convention entered into force in the United States on April 1, 2008, and governs intercountry
adoptions between the United States and other Convention countries.54 Guatemala is party to the
Convention,55 but has not established regulations and procedures that meet Convention standards.
As a result, the U.S. government is only processing petitions to allow an adopted child to
immigrate to the United States for adoptions that were initiated in Guatemala prior to December
31, 2007,56 because such adoptions can be completed under the non-Convention system. The
50 This section prepared by Alison Siskin, Specialist in Immigration Policy, Domestic Social Policy Division.
51 In FY2007, U.S. citizens adopted 4,728 children from Guatemala, more than from any other country except China
(5,453). In FY2011, U.S. citizens adopted 32 children from Guatemala. Department of State, Immigrant Visas Issued to
Orphans Coming to U.S., FY2007-FY2011, http://adoption.state.gov/about_us/statistics.php.
52 Not all these cases are still active. Some have been closed and some may be cases where the prospective parents have
abandoned their applications. Telephone conversation with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Office of
Congressional Affairs, March 30, 2012.
53 The Convention requires that: certain determinations, such as adoptability of the child, eligibility to immigrate,
parent suitability and counseling be made before the adoption can proceed; every country establish a national
government-level central authority to carry out certain functions that include cooperating with other central authorities,
overseeing local implementation of the Convention, and providing access to information on adoption laws; a child’s
welfare be protected throughout the adoption process; certified adoptions be recognized in all other countries that are
party to the Convention; and every country party to the Convention establish a national government-level process for
uniform screening and authorization of adoption service providers.
54 The Hague Conference on Private International Law maintains an updated list of participatory countries on its
website at http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.status&cid=69. Other information about the Convention
is also available on this website. Adoptions from countries not party to the Convention are processed under the rules
and regulations that governed all intercountry adoptions prior to the implementation of the Convention. Also, adoptions
initiated prior to April 1, 2008 are processed under the non-Convention system. For an overview of that process, see
CRS Report RL31769, Immigration: International Child Adoption, by Alison Siskin.
55 Although the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled in 2004 that the country’s signing of the Convention was
unconstitutional, under international law, Guatemala is still party to the Convention and has been since March 1, 2003.
Department of State, “Frequently Asked Questions: Intercountry Adoptions and the Hague Convention: Guatemala,”
Oct. 12, 2008.
56 Adoptions initiated in Guatemala prior to Dec. 31, 2007 are processed by the United States under non-Convention
(continued...)
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United States will not approve new adoptions from Guatemala until Guatemala’s adoption
process complies with Convention standards, and there is no estimate of when that will be.57
Author Contact Information
Maureen Taft-Morales
Specialist in Latin American Affairs
mtmorales@crs.loc.gov, 7-7659
(...continued)
procedures. Since Guatemala refused to allow adoption from U.S. citizens between Dec. 31, 2007 and Apr. 1, 2008, all
cases being processed were initiated in Guatemala prior to Dec. 31, 2007. Department of State, Warning: Adoptions
Initiated In Guatemala on or after April 1, 2008, Apr. 1, 2008.
57 Telephone conversation with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Office of Congressional Affairs, March 30,
2012.
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