title: The Dilemma of Lawlessness: Organized Crime, Violence, Prosperity, and Security Along Guatemala's Borders
abstract: Various independent and governmental reports have explained the gravity of the violence and organized crime in Guatemala and the danger these factors pose to regional stability. Most of them focus on the failures of national security policies, attempts to reform the national police and judicial systems, and international counternarcotics efforts. Local dynamics underpinning this national crisis, such as the relationships between criminal networks and local authorities and institutions, too often