Guatemala (catch all)

[Misifus]

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20111...d6d32bd4998fce

Congratulations to STRATFOR for an excellent article.

I haven't seen Otto Perez Molina since 1973. At that time he was a tactical officer at Escuela Politecnica de Guatemala (La Antigua), which is the nation's military academy. "La Antigua" refers to the old location of the school on Av. La Reforma, Zona 10 in Guatemala City. The school is now out in the countryside at San Juan Sacatapequez. I have contributed to his presidential campaigns in the past and am glad to see he has finally gotten himself elected. Gen. Perez Molina is also the officer who brokered and signed the peace that ended Guatemala's long civil war. His background is military intelligence branch, however he is also a combat veteran.

I expect Gen. Perez Molina will move strongly and quickly to stamp out crime in Guatemala. He has run on a platform of using la mano dura to defeat crime.

The article linked is worth discussing. I can offer some personal observations and experience on some of the topics of the article. These would be concerning Kaibiles, Central America and Mexico in general, and street gangs in Los Angeles.

For starters, I find it remarkable that STRATFOR was able to hone in on the subject of the landed gentry in Guatemala. Also one should keep in mind that Kaibiles have been recruited by Zetas.