The Evolution of Violence: Economic Development and Intergroup Conflict in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica

Abstract

This chapter reviews the incidence of violence and intergroup conflict in three countries in Central America: Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica, to develop a typology of violence and its links with social and economic policies. The root causes of violence in Central America have always been traced to poverty and inequality, which in turn are perceived to be the root cause of the political violence experienced by the region during the 1980s. Between 1975 and 2008, Guatemala underwent a low-intensity conflict in which as much as 200,000 people died. El Salvador suffered the loss of 75,000 people during a decade of armed conflict that ended in 1992. Costa Rica, one of the most peaceful countries in the world, is now concerned about drug trafficking and street crime, both of which are main topics of public opinion and political discourse (Arroyo and Espinoza 2001).