Justice Deferred: Rule of Law in Central America

I have a new report on Justice Deferred: Rule of Law in Central America for the World Politics Review where I take more of an historical overview of developments in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

After more than two decades of work by national and international actors, the rule of law in Central America remains weak. While there seems to have been progress in prosecuting high-profile cases, most crimes go unpunished. The rule of law is stronger in the capitals and urban areas than in rural areas, and rarely extends to women, the indigenous and the poor. There is a commitment to free and fair elections in theory, but not so much in practice. Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War and Central America’s movement toward civilian government, the rule of law remains elusive.

The end to the civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador as well as the civilian transition in Honduras provided an opportunity for the transformation of the political, social, and economic conditions in each country. Competitive elections began in the 1980s and continued into the 1990s with the transitions of the FMLN and URNG to political parties. There were some successful efforts by civilian leaders to regain control over the military in the 1990s / 2000s in each country and to move the security institutions in the direction of what one would expect of such institutions in democratic states.

However, while we can point to a number of successful rule of law initiatives over the last twenty-five years, there is little evidence of any systematic transformation.

You can go read the longer form piece here (~3,500 words).