Breaking democracy: illegal political finance and organized crime in Guatemala

Autor: Laura Sanz-Levia, Fernando Jiménez-Sánchez
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Crime, Law and Social Change. 75:21-43
ISSN: 1573-0751
0925-4994
DOI: 10.1007/s10611-020-09918-x
Popis: 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 exclusion – particularly 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.
Databáze: OpenAIRE