Guatemala is unique among Central American countries. Though comparable in size to the U.S. state of Tennessee, it is home to more than 20 languages. Its territory spans multiple ecological regions — including thorn scrub-dotted savannas, arid forests and tropical jungles — and contains more than 300 microclimates. A range of 285 volcanoes stretches from the country's southeast to its southwest. Guatemala's impressive diversity has made the country difficult to govern and has created a perfect breeding ground for criminal groups, which have found refuge in the country's hinterlands.
For example, Jutiapa department's agricultural advantages, along with its proximity to El Salvador, have facilitated drug trafficking in the area. In the south, rivers rich with volcanic deposits make their way to the Pacific Ocean, nourishing the land used to raise cattle and cultivate crops. By contrast, farming in the mountainous north has historically been limited to small harvests. Zacapa department, like Jutiapa, is an agrarian border department, but it abuts Honduras — not El Salvador — and has a more arid landscape with less arable land. With few economic opportunities, the department's Motagua Valley has produced some of Guatemala's most formidable criminal organizations. In both departments, drug money has been laundered through the agricultural sector.
Then there is Huehuetenango department, Guatemala's western and central highlands on the border with Mexico's Chiapas state. Huehuetenango's population is scattered among an array of villages sheltered by the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, which cuts south from Mexico's Sierra Madre. The cultural and linguistic variety in the region, defined by its Mayan heritage, also makes it especially difficult to combat drug trafficking there, given the indigenous majority's historical distrust of the state. Guatemalan intelligence agents have had trouble penetrating the villages. Similarly, Guatemala's border with Mexico is long and difficult to secure because of the region's harsh environment, which includes the impenetrable rainforests of Peten department and the northwestern highlands.
In the end, Guatemala's capital city is simply too distant and disconnected from these border departments to effectively govern them. Cocaine traffickers, known as transportistas, can easily bypass Guatemala City using the network of paved and unpaved roads that connects the country's northeast and northwest, protected by the mountainous terrain. In the absence of a strong state to enforce the rule of law in Guatemala's hinterlands, organized crime groups and strong local patrons will continue to act as the authorities there. Corruption is hard to eradicate once it has taken root.
