ABSTRACT
As the largest country in Central America and an inescapable corridor between the north and south of the continent, Guatemala is the stage of fierce power disputes between transnational criminal groups, in addition to being the area through which people and goods flow in various forms between North and South America. This feature would in itself justify a rigorous study of Guatemala's borders and, in particular, of its border system. However, up to this date, there is scant research on Guatemala's borders that links these with either the legal or the illegal economy. The present work aims to contribute to that direction through the identification of the main elements that compose Guatemala's border system. To this end, the chapter reviews the existing literature on Guatemala's borders and the border-security connection. In order to identify the fundamental components of the country's border system, it further provides an account of the historical process of border formation and offers a general characterization of each of Guatemala's borders, followed by an initial attempt to identify their relationship with illegal flows. A final section proposes topics for a future research agenda.
