Guatemala served as the epicenter of an ambitious regional effort, bringing together leaders from security forces, local authorities, experts, and representatives of civil society at the Latin American and Caribbean Forum on Democratic Security and Territorial Governance. The event, held in mid-February, marked the launch of the Latin American and Caribbean Group on Security and Democracy (GLACSED), a key initiative aimed at coordinating effective regional responses to the growing power of organized crime.
The initiative seeks to consolidate public security policies based on evidence, multilevel collaboration, and stronger institutions, Guatemala’s Ministry of the Interior indicated. The forum emerges at a time when criminal networks are expanding their reach across borders, challenging national responses, and increasing pressure for coordinated regional action.
“We seek to bring together the best regional and global experts to tackle organized crime, corruption, and criminality. This, combined with the work of democratic institutions, can make a significant difference,” said Carlos Alvarado, former president of Costa Rica and president of GLACSED, during the event’s opening ceremony. Alvarado emphasized that the goal is to provide effective tools and proven approaches to those confronting these challenges on the ground every day.
Technical cooperation and strategic planning
The forum is receiving technical support from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), recognized for its expertise in analyzing and advising on complex criminal dynamics. This support is contributing to the development and implementation of a regional work plan for the rest of 2026.
“We are building a platform based on three fundamental pillars: political consensus for effective responses within the framework of the law, knowledge from experts with proven experience, and practical actions on the ground,” said Mark Shaw, GI-TOC executive director and GLACSED technical secretary. Shaw stressed that the urgency of responding to organized crime with concrete, lawful solutions has never been greater.
In this context, three core pillars were defined in the work plan presented during the forum: territorial governance and strategies to combat extortion; reforms to judicial and prison systems to more effectively disrupt criminal networks; and international cooperation to strengthen national capacities and expand access to financing. These areas reflect some of the most persistent challenges across the region, where criminal networks continue to exploit weak institutional coordination and gaps between national responses.
Regional coordination and strengthening of the state
Eddy Morales, a criminologist and former director general of Guatemala’s prison system, noted that the initiative has the potential to strengthen regional coordination and create a platform for multilateral cooperation where countries can share intelligence, experiences, and strategies against transnational crime. “A joint response is vital to combat organizations such as drug cartels, arms trafficking, and human trafficking,” Morales told Diálogo.
Organized crime not only threatens citizens’ safety but also seeks to displace legitimate state authority in vulnerable territories. For this reason, the forum underscored the importance of restoring state presence in areas where illicit networks have gained ground. This includes efforts to prevent prisons from functioning as command centers for criminal activity, a recurring challenge in the region.
Morales also emphasized that institutional strengthening is essential and depends largely on technical training, technological modernization, and sustained financial support for security and justice agencies. “Without internal reforms that guarantee transparency, control of corruption, and institutional capacity, any external aid, though effective at the operational level, will have little impact at the structural level,” Morales said.
The need for regional integration
Although Latin America and the Caribbean recorded a modest decline in homicide rates in recent years, levels of violence remain high and uneven across the region. Countries such as Ecuador have experienced sharp increases, reaching some of the highest homicide rates in the hemisphere, while others continue to face entrenched criminal dynamics that hinder sustained progress.
Brigadier General Juan Carlos Buitrago, former director of Colombia’s Fiscal and Customs Police, emphasized that limited regional integration remains one of the greatest obstacles in the fight against transnational organized crime. “Crime has no borders; we are the ones who create them, often making cooperation more difficult,” he said in an interview with Guatemala’s Canal Antigua.
Experts such as Dr. Henry Rodríguez, a public policy specialist, also point to the rapid transformation of criminal groups, which increasingly use advanced technologies to optimize logistics, control territories, and confront state institutions. This evolution requires security strategies that go beyond reactive measures and address the structural conditions that enable these networks to operate.
At the close of the forum, Guatemala’s Minister of the Interior Marco Antonio Villeda emphasized that an effective response must prioritize disrupting the financial structures that sustain organized crime. He also stressed that strengthening regional security must remain grounded in democratic principles, ensuring that the measures adopted do not undermine citizens’ fundamental rights.
GLACSED represents a coordinated effort to move from shared diagnoses to more structured regional action against organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean. By aligning priorities around territorial control, justice system reform, and cross-border cooperation, the initiative seeks to translate dialogue into practical measures that can be adapted at the national level.
