*Updated May 6*Guadalajara -
Guatemala's ambassador to Mexico has once again warned about the growing threat presented to his nation by the Los Zetas drug cartel. The precarious position in which the country finds itself is the direct result of Mexican military successes against narcotics traffickers and organized crime, according to ambassador Fernando Andrade Díaz-Duran.
"The government of Guatemala is quite concerned about Los Zetas operations, and not just along the border. For the past three or four years they've established themselves throughout our territory, working with smaller local cartels and gangs," said Díaz-Duran in a Mexican press interview last week. "Our border is very porous, with more than 300 locations where people can cross on foot." Murders in the area have skyrocketed, he noted.
To address regional instability, Guatemalan president Otto Pérez Molina is relying upon combined special task force units of police and military personnel, much like his counterparts to the north.
Guatemalan army joins drug war - "We have to neutralize organized crime," says new president
Former president Felipe Calderón launched the drug war in this country on Dec. 11, 2006, adopting a National Security Strategy based upon the use of combat troops, especially marine contingents. In two reports published in 2012 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) noted that the approach was working, pushing criminals south across Mexico's border with Guatemala.
Last February UNODC reported that Calderón's strategy was delivering very real results for Mexico, albeit at the expense of its impoverished neighbors in Central America. In September UNODC said Mexican traffickers have relocated their businesses under relentless pressure from the armed forces.
More evidence Mexican drug war strategy is working, as violence shifts southward, says UNODC
Los Zetas are "dominant force" in Central America and have foothold in Belize, says U.N. analysis
New president Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office on Dec. 1, has indicated that he'll stick with the strategy, promising to ratchet up the pressure by adding 75,000 units to federal paramilitary forces (Human Rights Watch's condemnation of Mexican drug war reveals little understanding of conflict).
Less than two weeks ago an Associated Press report concluded the U.S. is enlarging its presence throughout Latin America, as it seeks to bolster fledgling regimes which face threats to their very existence at the hands of organized crime. Most of those governments are in Central America, where international narcotics traffickers have begun to shift operations after years of pursuit by the Mexican military, it said in an analysis which mirrored UNDOC's. Expanding U.S. presence in Latin drug wars.
The Associated Press tracked what it called "a drug war strategy that began in Colombia, moved to Mexico and is now finding fresh focus in Central America, where brutal cartels (are) motivated not by ideology but by cash."
Most U.S. officials interviewed and quoted by AP concurred that the drug war has turned south. One noted that the "northern tier countries of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize have become a key focus area." All of those nations are virtually in Mexico's back yard.
Acknowledging that in many Latin American nations "police are so institutionally weak or corrupt that governments have turned to their militaries to fight drug-traffickers," an outgoing U.S. Defense Dept. official told AP, "We are not going to turn our backs on these governments because they have to use their militaries in this way."
The AP reported that the U.S. Defense Dept. spent $67.4 million on Honduran military contracts in 2012, and dedicated $45.6 million to Guatemalan security. Both nations have been overrun by drug traffickers and organized crime in recent months. Most of their products are destined for the United States market - via Mexico.
"Almost bankrupt" Guatemala calls for U.S. help in fighting drug cartels, forced labor, sex trafficking
Honduras "invaded by drug traffickers" - tons of cocaine shipped to U.S., "where the customers are"
Los Zetas and other regional cartels also traffic in weapons and humans, including women and minors consigned to the sex trade.
Ambassador Díaz-Duran said that it's critical for Guatemala and Mexico to continue their cooperation on security matters. In Rome last week, president Pérez Molina said that in June both countries will participate with the United States in a joint military operation "to deal with insecurity along the Pacific coast on the frontier between Guatemala and Mexico." He did not elaborate on the planned exercise.
Mexican drug cartels enjoy global presence via cocaine
State Dept. says Mexico is "witnessing the end of drug trafficking" - with worrisome shift to Caribbean
Drug cartels present greater threat to U.S. security than Iran, says U.S. State Department
Feb. 20 - At the close of a Mexico-Central America summit in San Jose, Costa Rica, participants agreed on two things: Honduras and Guatemala are being ravaged by drug traffickers, and 90% of the narcotics passing through the area are U.S. bound. President Peña Nieto told the conference that he was open to discussion of possible strategic adjustments, but in the meantime Mexican armed forces will remain the first line of defense in his country.
Mar. 1 - Mexican drug traffickers murder two Guatemalan National Police agents near Chiapas border
Apr. 2 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports that Mexican drug cartels continue to expand their sphere of influence throughout Central America. The Sinaloa Cartel of El Chapo Guzmán and Los Zetas are the most powerful, UNODC says, although the Gulf Cartel and Familia Michocana are also present. Cartel bosses have threatened elected political leaders in Guatemala and Honduras in an effort to intimidate them. UNDOC once again says that aggressive pursuit by the Mexican (and Colombian) armies have forced traffickers to relocate key operations to Central America. In the case of Mexico, that strategy was implemented by former president Felipe Calderón in 2006, and is being closely adhered to by new president Enrique Peña Nieto.
Apr. 8 - Nicaragua: drug traffickers "could overrun us"
May 2 - Guatemala's porous 600 border with Mexico makes it almost impossible to seal, president Otto Pérez Molina told a Mexico City newspaper. Drug traffickers cross the border through remote Chiapas state.
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
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