Guatemala is positioning itself as a strategic player in regional defense, taking a more assertive role in confronting the expansion of transnational organized crime and the growing threats facing hemispheric security. This was the assessment shared by Minister of National Defense Major General Henry David Sáenz, in an exclusive interview with Diálogo during the Florida International University (FIU) Hemispheric Security Conference, held May 5–8, 2026.
With a clear regional vision, Minister Sáenz said that Guatemala is no longer merely a transit corridor for drug trafficking, but has evolved into a hub for drug production, distribution, and export. In response, the country has committed to reshaping its security strategy through military modernization, strengthened border security, and expanded cooperation with the United States and regional partners. According to Minister Sáenz, the results are already visible: Illegal flights have dropped from 73 per year to virtually zero, while efforts to protect critical infrastructure continue to advance steadily.
From real-time intelligence sharing to the role of the Kaibiles in multinational interoperability exercises, Minister Sáenz outlined the challenges shaping security in Guatemala and across the hemisphere. He also issued a warning that extends beyond the military sphere.
Diálogo: Guatemala sits at a key strategic point along trafficking routes connecting South and North America. How have transnational criminal organizations operating in the country evolved in recent years, and how has this transformation influenced Guatemala’s defense priorities?
Guatemala’s Minister of Defense Major General Henry Sáenz Ramos: The Americas, and the hemisphere as a whole, have always played an important role throughout human history. Within that context, Guatemala occupies a critical position because, as you mentioned, it connects North and South America. It is a necessary corridor for both legitimate and illicit activity. On the positive side, we have fiber-optic connectivity, for example, among many other things. But on the negative side, we are also a key transit route for threats.
What has happened since the 1980s? Guatemala used to be simply a transit point for drugs moving from South America to North America. Over the decades, as transnational threats evolved and became more sophisticated, that reality changed. Criminal groups once paid local collaborators in cash, and Guatemala functioned only as a bridge. Over time, however, we became producers, exporters, and distributors ourselves. The drug trafficking essentially came full circle.
As a result, security forces have had to evolve as well — developing and strengthening capabilities we previously did not possess. We’ve also had to reinforce alliances, particularly with our strategic partner, the United States. That is not only true for Guatemala, but for the entire region.
Because when we look at the potential conflicts the hemisphere could face, many remain distant possibilities. What every country in the hemisphere does share, however, is a common enemy: drugs and transnational organized crime.
Diálogo: Criminal networks are becoming increasingly embedded into local economies and communities. How does that complicate security efforts, and how have the Armed Forces adapted their response?
Minister Sáenz: This threat is evolving rapidly, in increasingly complex ways, and with remarkable efficiency toward its objectives. These groups have become highly capable — economically, geostrategically, militarily, and above all, politically. That has made them far more powerful.
If the militaries of the hemisphere fail to build alliances, and if those of us who stand on the side of law and order fail to make important decisions for the hemisphere, there may be a point of no return. Because the most dangerous alliance drug trafficking can establish in the hemisphere is a political one — when criminal groups gain influence within political parties or state institutions, regardless of ideology or political affiliation. Once they secure political protection for their illicit activities, that becomes the most difficult challenge for any armed force to confront. That is where Guatemala is focusing its efforts today.
The Guatemalan Army has made a significant effort to ensure that every member — from the Minister of Defense to the high command and field commanders — undergoes rigorous vetting to verify there are no ties whatsoever to transnational criminal threats. How do we do this? Through rigorous, scientific vetting processes that ensure personnel are free from improper influence, allowing us to confront these threats more effectively.
Diálogo: As transnational criminal organizations become more sophisticated in their use of technology — including advanced surveillance and communications systems — how is Guatemala adapting its capabilities, and what role does cooperation with international partners play in keeping pace with these evolving threats?
Minister Saénz: Guatemala has the lowest public debt in the region and some of the strongest GDP indicators. But that alone is not enough. We are just one percentage point away from becoming an investment-grade country. If we focus only on economic indicators and neglect hemispheric defense and security, we risk losing our direction as a nation.
We must understand that security and defense are the foundation for development. That is where Guatemala has assumed a stronger leadership role in the region. Why? Because together with our strategic partner [the United States] we have invested heavily in defense capabilities. We have invested in vessels, patrol boats, aircraft, and weapon systems. That’s the defense strategy Guatemala is pursuing. Economic growth cannot come at the expense of security and defense.
Diálogo: One of the most visible operational challenges is territorial control. What are currently the main challenges in securing Guatemala’s key border corridors, and how are you improving situational awareness in hard-to-reach areas?
Minister Sáenz: Borders have traditionally been critical areas for every armed force. They are places where different cultures and legal systems converge, and where coordinating efforts between two countries can be difficult. I believe we must move beyond seeing borders as lines of separation and instead understand them as points of convergence for the armed forces.
That is what we are doing with our Mexican counterparts, with whom we conduct coordinated border patrols and joint operations to focus our efforts on protecting these regions. And not only against transnational organized crime, but also against irregular migration — two phenomena that, in Guatemala’s case, we have managed to contain and reduce along our borders.
Diálogo: Strategic infrastructure is becoming increasingly important for both national security and economic stability. How is Guatemala strengthening the protection and resilience of its critical infrastructure, and how have partnerships — including cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other international partners — contributed to these efforts?
Minister Sáenz: The role the United States is playing in Guatemala is central to our overall strategy. We have expanded our presence with our strategic partner on U.S. soil through additional liaison officers, scholarships, training, and acquisitions, while also strengthening information exchange and support for intelligence agencies operating in Guatemala. This has improved our intelligence capabilities, operational capacity, and ultimately our results.
Guatemala has a longstanding relationship with the United States. It has been our strategic partner for many years. Our Corps of Engineers was created and professionally developed alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We previously had several programs, such as Fuertes Caminos, in which the National Guard helped build roads, not simply as infrastructure projects, but to bring development, education, and healthcare to very rural areas of Guatemala. That later evolved into New Horizons, which incorporated a broader social focus, higher-quality road built using modern public engineering techniques, and medical outreach campaigns.
These initiatives helped our Corps of Engineers develop capabilities we continue to use today, including asphalt paving and hydraulic concrete construction techniques. That experience eventually led us to pursue a more ambitious strategy.
As part of that effort, we asked our strategic partner to help us move to the next stage: expanding our ports. Guatemala had not undertaken reforms of that scale in more than 30 years. We also sought to rehabilitate the railway system and build highway interchanges. All of this allows the Guatemalan Army Corps of Engineers to develop new capabilities.
But we are not speaking solely about critical infrastructure from a defense perspective. We are talking about job creation, economic development, and reducing migration from Guatemala to the United States. In this way, we are creating a virtuous cycle in which critical infrastructure, development, and employment, all begin with investments originating in the defense sector.
Diálogo: A fundamental part of bilateral cooperation with the United States has been strengthening information sharing, including mechanisms that allow near-real-time monitoring across the air, sea, and land domains. How has this cooperation transformed Guatemala’s ability to detect, track, and intercept illicit trafficking?
Minister Sáenz: Let’s look at the numbers, because numbers don’t lie.
A few years ago, Guatemala was receiving approximately 73 illegal aircraft from South America each year, landing on clandestine airstrips throughout the country. We were unable to keep up because drug traffickers already had local support networks on the ground and used nearby populations as human shields to escape. As a result of this cooperation, the recovery of capabilities, and the strengthening of our relationship with our strategic partner, under this administration — between 2024, 2025, and so far in 2026 — we have reduced those illegal landings to virtually a single case along the border with Belize. Our national territory has been practically secured.
What has happened in the maritime domain? Years ago, we were seizing large quantities of narcotics in our waters, but that has changed. South American traffickers adapted by moving their operations farther offshore — as far as 1,000 to 1,500 nautical miles out. As a result, Central American waters, and particularly Guatemala’s national waters, are significantly safer today.
Now the challenge is on land. Although large, consolidated shipments are no longer moving through Guatemalan territory in the same way, small-scale drug trafficking has increased. That is where our current efforts with our strategic partner are focused.
Diálogo: As part of Guatemala’s increasingly active role in hemispheric security cooperation, the country co-hosted CENTAM Guardian 2025 alongside the United States and other regional partners. What concrete operational benefits has this cooperation generated in terms of interoperability, readiness, and joint response capabilities?
Minister Sáenz: I would divide this into two areas. First, the purely military operational aspect. Our special forces, the Kaibiles — whom we consider among the best special forces in the world — have been tested in Africa and in multiple international environments. During exercises with U.S. special forces, we achieved a very high level of interoperability. That allowed us to reinforce procedures we were already executing effectively, improve them even further, and identify areas where we still needed to advance.
In the area of risk reduction, we gained very valuable knowledge related to disaster management, including floods, fires, and other emergencies affecting the hemisphere. That was especially important for us given the level of equipment and modernization our strategic partner possesses. It was an extremely valuable experience because Guatemala, like many countries in the region, is highly vulnerable to natural disasters.
It was a very important exercise — one that was also conducted in another country this year and that will undoubtedly continue to be necessary for the hemisphere in the years ahead.
Diálogo: At the same time, the armed forces are increasingly being called upon to support internal security efforts alongside civilian authorities. How do you balance that operational role while maintaining clear institutional mandates, and what coordination mechanisms have proven most effective between military and civilian institutions?
Minister Sáenz: The armed forces, in every country, are organizations that function with a high level of structure and discipline. In Guatemala, one of our greatest strengths is our territorial organization, where every mission and every geographic area has a designated commander responsible for operations.
When the problem involving the three prisons taken over by criminals occurred last January, there was already a command structure in place prepared to respond. Due to the severity of the situation and the fact that law enforcement capabilities had been overwhelmed, the president ordered the Army to retake control. The Army deployed, and within 14 hours we had regained control of the three prisons without injuries or fatalities.
There is no need to glorify violence or crisis situations to demonstrate the professionalism and capabilities our military security forces possess today. What this operation did was open a new chapter for us in Guatemala. We are now responsible for prison perimeter security, and this has contributed to declining homicide and extortion rates in the streets.
I believe that is one of the most important contributions armed forces can make to the hemisphere today. Why? Because we are more aware than ever of how force should be used, under what circumstances, and within what legal framework. Today we are fully conscious of respect for human rights, democratic principles, and the rule of law that we are obligated to protect and defend. I believe that is one of the successes we are achieving in Guatemala.
Diálogo: Looking ahead over the short and medium term, what do you consider the most significant emerging threats Guatemala’s defense institutions must prepare for? And what strategic capabilities, force adjustments, or institutional transformations will be most critical to addressing those threats effectively?
Minister Sáenz: We must abandon the bad habit we have in Latin America of simply holding out our hands asking for equipment, ammunition, or weapons. That is not how progress is achieved.
What we need today is education, education, and more education. We do not need someone to give us fish; we need the fishing rod. When the soldiers of the hemisphere truly understand that, it won’t matter where the threat comes from, how large it is, or how powerful it may be.
We will have the education so that the soldier on the front lines has the courage to confront and annihilate the threat, so mid-level officers have the knowledge to plan and allocate resources effectively, and so generals understand that it is not politics that should guide us, but rather the interests and security of the nation.
When I speak of education, I mean strengthening those three levels simultaneously. Only then will we improve how we manage our resources and invest more effectively in defense.
My position is clear: No nation can achieve lasting economic development without first establishing real and sustainable security and defense. Only then can countries build the common good and achieve long-term prosperity.
