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Article contents
Power Short-Circuited: Social Movement Organisation under Cartel Rule in Rural Guatemala
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2017
Abstract
This article unpacks the effect that the presence of diffuse licit and illicit power structures has on states and citizens in the modern world. It does so by investigating how a drug cartel undermined social movement organisation around electricity provision in the San Marcos province of Guatemala. The cartel's presence contributed directly to the demise of movement activity and impeded the effective development of movement strategies in the face of menacing – albeit veiled – threats. In addition, the state's inability or unwillingness to prevent the violent assassination of movement leaders undermined the legitimacy of the central state in the eyes of movement leaders. This also contributed to the reproduction of the ‘unrule of law’ on the ground through the movement's subsequent rejection of formal state institutions.
Spanish abstract
Este artículo desentraña el efecto que la presencia de difusas estructuras de poder lícitas e ilícitas tiene sobre estados y ciudadanos en el mundo moderno. Lo hace así al investigar cómo un cártel de drogas minó la organización del movimiento social alrededor del servicio de electricidad en el departamento de San Marcos en Guatemala. La presencia del cártel contribuyó directamente en la extinción de la actividad del movimiento e impidió el desarrollo efectivo de sus estrategias de movilización debido a las intimidaciones recibidas. Además, la incapacidad o resistencia del estado a evitar los asesinatos violentos de líderes del movimiento minaron la legitimidad del estado central ante los ojos de los dirigentes sociales. Lo anterior también contribuyó a la reproducción del ‘no-estado de derecho’ (‘unrule of law’) desde la base social a través del subsecuente rechazo del movimiento a instituciones estatales formales.
Portuguese abstract
Este artigo desvenda os efeitos que a presença difusa de estruturas de poderes lícitos e ilícitos tem em Estados e cidadãos no mundo moderno. Isso é feito a partir da investigação de como um cartel de drogas minou a organização de movimentos sociais na questão do fornecimento de eletricidade na província de São Marcos, Guatemala. A presença do cartel contribuiu diretamente para o desaparecimento das atividades dos movimentos sociais e impediu o desenvolvimento efetivo das estratégias dos movimentos devido a ameaças, ainda que obscuras. Ademais, a inabilidade estatal ou indisposição em prevenir o violento assassinato de líderes dos movimentos minou a legitimidade do Estado central aos olhos dos líderes dos movimentos. Isto também contribuiu para a reprodução de um ‘Estado de (não) direito’ (‘unrule of law’) nas bases sociais, através de subsequente rejeição do movimento às instituições estatais formais.
Keywords
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017
References
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38 Unión FENOSA subsequently created the distribution companies DEOCSA and DEORSA.
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44 Expediente 344–2006, Constitutional Court, 30 May 2006.
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46 Official data on non-payment are not available. But newspapers cite figures ranging from 35,000 to 60,000 households. Gabriel Herrera, ‘San Marcos: Vecinos y empresa se quejan. Ejército actuaría en conflicto por distribución eléctrica’, La Hora (22 July 2009). Yagüe Herrero, ‘La distribución de la electricidad’.
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69 Governmental decrees 1–2010, 3–2010, 4–2010 and 6–2010 extended the state of alert to 22 June 2010.
70 See Yagüe Herrero, ‘La distribución de la electricidad’.
71 ‘Avanzan trabajos de reconexión de electricidad en San Marcos’, Prensa Libre, 23 Dec. 2009.
72 Interview municipal movement leader, Malacatán, 2 Aug. 2010.
73 Ibid.
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77 Indeed, the impunity surrounding the murder in 2007 of three Salvadorean members of the Central American parliament had created such international reaction that the Guatemalan government saw itself obligated to accept the formation of a Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, CICIG). See Hudson, Andrew and Taylor, Alexandra, ‘The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala: A New Model for International Criminal Justice Mechanisms’, Journal of International Criminal Justice 8 (2010), p. 5CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
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82 Interviews communal movement leaders, Chayen, 8 Aug. 2010. Also interview municipal movement leader, Malacatán, 2 Aug. 2010.
83 Ibid.; interview communal movement leader, Chayen, 8 Aug. 2010.
84 Argueta, ‘Private Security in Guatemala’, p. 328.
85 Borgh and Savenije, ‘De-securitising and Re-securitising Gang Policies’.
86 Davis, ‘Irregular Armed Forces’, pp. 399, 404.
87 Departmental Assembly, Tacaná, 14 Aug. 2010.
88 Ibid.
89 Interview local representative of COPREDEH, San Marcos, 29 May 2010.
90 Interview municipal movement leader, Malacatán, 2 Aug. 2010.
91 Interview local representative of COPREDEH, San Marcos, 29 May 2010.
92 Hudson and Taylor, ‘The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala’, p. 4.
93 Briscoe, ‘The Historical Development of the Nexus’.
94 Arjona, ‘Wartime Institutions’; Jentzsch, Corinna, Kalyvas, Stathis N. and Schubiger, Livia Isabella, ‘Militias in Civil Wars’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 59: 5 (2015), pp. 755–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Also see, for this governance dynamic under cartel rule, Davis, ‘Irregular Armed Forces’, p. 401.
95 Organization of American States (OAS), ‘Scenarios for the Drug Problem in the Americas 2013–2025’ (Washington, DC: OAS, 2013) Available at: http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/Scenarios_Report.PDF (accessed 21 Dec. 2016).
96 Briscoe, ‘The Historical Development of the Nexus’, p. 45.