What Is Past Is Prologue...The Future What We Make Of It

"Guatemala Shooting Raises Concerns About Military’s Expanded Role"  
The New York Times, Oct 20th 2012

Guatemala's civil war was long and very painful. The main problems that caused it, in the context of the cold war, are problems that lie deep within the country's history, society and identity. They are still there. However, we need to take our current challenges and confront them in the light of the present, and not based on experiences from our past; as open as our wounds are, these new challenges (I'm referring to drug traffic related violence specifically) are not going to go away easily. We will need a strong national front and we need to start now. 

Guatemala's society still sees the army as an abusive institution as a result of the role it played during the civil war. While a country's army reason for existence is to protect it from foreign attack, it is subject to a government's directive, and we all know that a government can carry out actions against its own people, take Syria right now. 

I would be lying if I said I'm not doubtful when it comes to the army myself; I'm my country's daughter and have seen it suffer under the army's abuse of power and impunity. However, I support President Otto Perez Molina's initiative to increase the army's budget and collaboration with the police and the US army to fight drug trafficking in the country. 

I disagree with Francisco Dall’Anese's view when he says that “The army should take care of security of the country against attacks from a foreign power and never for citizen security”. The drug cartels that currently suffocate Guatemala and deepen its state of underdevelopment and ever rising violence are international organizations that should be taken as a foreign and domestic force. In the 21st century, the threats a state's sovereignty faces are no longer reduced to other states' ambitions; they include international criminal organizations such as a the drug cartels keeping Guatemala on its knees.  

We do need the army. Guatemala's police force today is a corrupt and weak body that is unable to control even urban areas. How could we expect them to deal with a threat as complex and powerful as drug cartels of the likes of the Zetas? We need the army, we need the kaibiles, we need weapons, we need strategy and military intelligence.

Just as important as empowering our military forces is the need to make sure that this re-born army is a different institution to the one we had in the past. The necessary processes, training and checks need to be put in place to make sure that today's army's sole purpose is to return our country to stability, and that it carries its mission rid of its past misconceptions and irrespect for human rights and the law. Today's soldiers need to be enabled servants to our country. Educated, trained, controlled and penalized when necessary. 

Guatemala's society needs to get better at recognizing the hole we are in and the urgent need to start working our way out of it. We need to look forward and we need to support the government, as much as we need to make sure it is held accountable for all the power we grant it to have.