Mexican Drug Lords in Guatemala: A Threat to the State? A Case Study of the Fall of the PRI and Drug Cartels in Guatemala (2000-2016).

This thesis will analyse the influence Mexican DTOs have on the Guatemalan state and local life. In specific, it will look at the presence of the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas in Guatemala’s coastal and border provinces from the year 2000 onwards, and investigate how the fall of the Mexican PRI possibly contributed to the upsurge of these DTOs in Guatemala. It shall centre on the central question of how the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas are disintegrating the Guatemalan state and affecting public security, and how the collapse of the Mexican PRI played a role in this. In order to answer this central issue, this thesis will be separated into three chapters, together arguing that the DTOs are placing an immense threat on Guatemala’s public security and the state. Additionally, it will be argued that the collapse of the PRI contributed to this issue by causing uncontrolled competition between the DTOs after they gave up their hegemonic position within Mexico’s political system. Chapter...Show moreThis thesis will analyse the influence Mexican DTOs have on the Guatemalan state and local life. In specific, it will look at the presence of the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas in Guatemala’s coastal and border provinces from the year 2000 onwards, and investigate how the fall of the Mexican PRI possibly contributed to the upsurge of these DTOs in Guatemala. It shall centre on the central question of how the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas are disintegrating the Guatemalan state and affecting public security, and how the collapse of the Mexican PRI played a role in this. In order to answer this central issue, this thesis will be separated into three chapters, together arguing that the DTOs are placing an immense threat on Guatemala’s public security and the state. Additionally, it will be argued that the collapse of the PRI contributed to this issue by causing uncontrolled competition between the DTOs after they gave up their hegemonic position within Mexico’s political system. Chapter one shall focus on the theoretical background surrounding this topic, expanding on three central concepts guiding this thesis: transnational organised crime, the state, and public security. Chapter two is where the historical-political context of the problematic issue is elaborated upon, analysing how both Mexican and Guatemalan national occurrences are factors contributing to the threat the Guatemalan state is facing now (O’Neil; Schirmer). Here, it shall also be shown that it is not only the presence of the Mexican cartels that are disintegrating the Guatemalan state; there are other factors, coming from within Guatemala’s national history, that are an influence on the weakening of the state (Molina Mejía). Lastly, chapter three is the chapter in which the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas are analysed in the context of Guatemala’s border and coastal provinces, investigating the effect these groups have had on the state and local life from 2000 onwards (Dudley; Pérez).Show less

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Mexican Drug Lords in Guatemala: A Threat to the State? A Case Study of the Fall of the PRI and Drug Cartels in Guatemala (2000-2016).