Extortion, popular victimization, and social cleansing in Guatemala City at turn of the 21st century

Abstract

During the first years of the 21st Century, Guatemala experienced an increase in violent crime and homicides. In urban settings, youth gangs, or maras, extortion, and practices of social cleansing, became relevant. Since 2004, human rights activists denounced the state enforcer of social cleansing policies against alleged criminals, particularly gangs members. Even as this undoubtedly the case, however the social cleansing began earlier, when victims of extortive depredation became executioners of alleged extortionists. This article analyzed the practices of social cleansing during that period as a phenomenon related to the formation of the criminal question, the extortive victimization, as well as to the popular and state vigilantist practices.