{"id":2623,"date":"2019-08-20T15:43:38","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T20:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=2623"},"modified":"2019-08-20T15:43:39","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T20:43:39","slug":"vigilantism-in-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2019\/08\/20\/vigilantism-in-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Vigilantism in Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Esther Vargas, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Northern Triangle region of Central America — composed of the nations of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador — is considered one of the most violent regions in the world<\/a> outside of a war zone. In addition to a de facto <\/em>state of war against highly organized and well-armed nonstate actors<\/a>, extrajudicial killings by both the police and citizens of local gang members and criminals reveal both the ineffectiveness of state action in preventing violence and the desperation of local communities for security. Research on vigilante forms of justice in the region demonstrates how weak state institutions, like inadequate police forces, inefficient judicial systems, and corruption, can contribute to citizens taking the law into their own hands to provide justice and security in their communities.
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Ineffective and inaccessible criminal justice institutions create a void that fosters mob action and vigilante justice. In Latin America, linchamientos<\/em>, a form of collective vigilantism, reflect communities\u2019 dissatisfaction with state authority and the desire to have autonomy in their own affairs. In rural Guatemala, for example, linchamientos<\/em> have been considered a legacy of the nation\u2019s brutal civil war (1960-1996). Today, they still function as a form of community justice against local criminals, due to the perceived corruption, inefficiency, and illegitimacy of official police forces. <\/h5>\n\n\n\n