Defining the Line: New Report Highlights Border Insecurity in Central America

Last week, the Regional Migration Study Group released a report entitled "Border Security in Central America's Northern Triangle", a study sponsored in tandem by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Latin America Program. Focusing on the borders of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, the report brings into light the longstanding problem of "lawlessness" along the peripheries of these countries. Although these jungle-covered borders are "unmarked and largely unrecognized across most of their length", they have been garnering both national and international attention due to the latest intensification of violent crime and drug trafficking.

The report highlights two dynamics, the first of which is that due to the difficult topographical nature of the border areas, along with other governmental and economic factors such as corruption, shortage of funding, and weak institutions, the governments of the region have been unable to successfully address the problems of border insecurity. The second dynamic is that although some activities may be illegal, "illicit trafficking provides income, and border communities appear to be benefiting economically from the recent surge in drug trafficking through the region." The authors observe that "in many border communities, the lack of any state presence means that local nonstate groups assume the government's role as provider of key services, including security." The Study Group does provide some recommendations for the regional governments, which include developing clear strategies that concentrate on individual problem areas, improved information sharing, and more reliable and functional security frameworks, such as focusing on border security as opposed to border controls.

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