Breaking democracy: illegal political finance and organized crime in Guatemala

Abstract

Guatemala has been struggling in its road towards consolidated democracy since the mid-80s when its first democratic government was elected. Internal conflict is no rare occurrence in a country which civil war ended relatively recently, in 1996, and lasted over 30 years. Today, while Guatemala's economy is the largest of Central America, inequality, poverty and social exclusionparticularly of indigenous people, are rife. Organized crime is also a prevalent concern and an imminent threat to the rule of law. Criminal investigations have evidenced how public institutions and policies are compromised by a rotten political finance system with pervasive links with drug trafficking structures. This paper (1) analyzes the legislative framework (and its implementation) for political financing in Guatemala; (2) identifies how organized crime uses those gaps to filter dirty money in politics, and, more generally, in public life; and (3) pinpoints priority areas for sustainable reform.