Martial Law, Repression, and Remilitarization in Guatemala

Simon Granovsky-Larsen is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of York in Toronto, Canada. She recently published an article on Martial Law, Repression, and Remilitarization in Guatemala dealing with the (unintended) side effects of the government's state of siege in Alta Verapaz.

Authorities claim that crime was reduced by 30% and nearly two dozen members of the Zetas were arrested  during the state of siege in Alta Verapaz. For this reason, the people of Verapaz and Guatemala as a whole have tended to support the siege. However, Granovsky-Larsen identifies a darker side to the siege where authorities have used their temporary martial law powers to weaken social movements active in the department.

However, details have begun to emerge that show that these measures have also provided the government with additional impunity in its attempt to quell social movement organizing in the region. Alta Verapaz is a large and predominantly indigenous department in the sparsely populated north–east region of Guatemala. Since efforts to develop the region economically began in the 1960s, the department has seen a boom in activity such as oil drilling, ranching, and agro-fuel production, and it has also become a stronghold of organized campesino and indigenous resistance.

While it appears that the Colom administration made some short-term progress against the cartels with its state of siege in Alta Verapaz, it's really unclear whether the benefits will be long lasting (a reduction in crime and a reduced presence of the Zetas over the long-term) or whether the costs of the operation were worth it (wasted resources, the attacks against social movements, opportunity costs, etc.).