November 8, 2012

Dear LADDO,

The surge in drug trafficking and violent crime in Central America has highlighted the perennial problem of lawlessness along the borders of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Governments in these countries historically have neglected their borders, particularly the jungle-covered region along the Caribbean coast, across the Petén and Yucatán high plains that border Mexico, and within the central mountain chain. And while they regularly announce new policies to address border insecurity - whether at the national and regional levels, or multilaterally - these policies rarely have any impact.

In Border Insecurity in Central America’s Northern Triangle , researchers Ralph Espach of the Center for Naval Analyses and Daniel Haering of Francisco Marroquín University outline the long-standing pattern of government inattention to the border regions - probing the root causes that range from institutional, economic, and resource challenges to corruption and weak government structures.

The borders between Guatemala and Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras are porous and uncontrolled across most of their length. There are police and customs agents at most points where major highways cross the border, main ports, and commercial airports, but outside these locations and away from urban areas borders are mostly unmonitored by state forces. And many of the official crossing points are guarded by unarmed agents and are without reliable access to electricity or phone service.

Illicit trafficking - the smuggling of legal consumables for resale, drug and weapons trafficking, and human smuggling - have thus flourished. And the latest actors to take advantage of the region’s uncontrolled borders are Mexican-based trafficking cartels.

In the report, the authors argue that a focus on borders per se is misleading. Instead, they say, these governments should focus on creating a secure rule of law and providing state services, especially security, within border communities. The report concludes with a number of recommendations to improve border security policies and practices.

This report is the latest research from the Regional Migration Study Group, a partnership between MPI and the Latin American Program/Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Study Group, co-chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and former Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein, is a high-level initiative that in 2013 will propose new collaborative approaches to migration, competitiveness, and human-capital development for the United States, Central America, and Mexico.

The Study Group’s website, www.migrationpolicy.org/regionalstudygroup, showcases the initiative’s research to date, mission statement, and selected background readings. We invite you to check it out, now and in the months to come, as we publish more works in the lead-up to our final report in spring 2013.

With many thanks for your interest in our work,

Doris Meissner
Co-Director, Regional Migration Study Group
MPI Senior Fellow and Director of US Immigration Policy Program