2015 ~ 2018
The signing of the Peace Accords created hopes in Guatemala and El Salvador to move towards a more just society in which people could carry out their lives with ease. However, the formal establishment of peace has not allowed Guatemala to achieve significantly higher levels of human development and the insecurity in which the population lives has been aggravated. In previous decades, violence was mainly associated with the dynamics of the internal armed conflict, taking place in the confrontations between the belligerent forces and mainly through the repressive actions carried out against the civilian population, primarily in the rural area. The violence suffered by Guatemalan society today, however, no longer responds to the same historical configuration. In general terms, it is feasible to propose that the high rates of violence and insecurity that Guatemala suffers are related to two main causal lines: social exclusion and the lack of application of the law. These networks have their origins in the political economy of the violence created during the internal armed conflict. These organizations maintain links with state institutions and with influential sectors of society. The prevailing high levels of impunity and the weakness of state institutions responsible for justice and public security are fostered by these criminal action networks through corrupt and coercive actions. In 2019, a rate of 21.5 violent deaths was registered per 100,000 inhabitants. Homicide rates have been falling for years but far from consistent numbers in the rule of law.
