Central America Awash in Weapons

by Nefer Munoz

The government of Costa Rica and the non-governmental Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress expressed their concern over the large number of firearms still in the hands of civilians, a legacy of the armed conflicts that plagued the region in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

The return of peace to Central America left thousands of weapons used by the guerrillas and the armed forces, including AK-47 and M16 assault rifles, RPG-7 missiles and hand grenades, circulating in the region.

"Many weapons were left in the hands of former combatants and ended up in the hands of civilians after the civil conflicts came to an end," Costa Rica's Deputy Foreign Minister Elayne Whyte told IPS .

With the conclusion of the peace and disarmament processes in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, many former insurgents and members of the security forces moved into the ranks of organized crime, according to human rights activists.

The disarmament process in Nicaragua, where U.S.-financed contra fighters fought the leftist Sandinista government in the 1980s, took place from 1990 to 1993. In El Salvador and Guatemala, the process began in 1992 and 1996, respectively, when peace accords were signed between the governments of those two countries and the guerrillas.

Whyte said the governments of Central America should reach agreement on joint efforts to crack down on the illegal possession of arms and carry out campaigns designed to raise awareness among the public on the need to control the circulation of weapons.

Government and civil society delegates from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama are attending the San Jose conference to discuss the implementation of the United Nations action plan to curb the global small arms trade, which was approved this year in New York.

Lara Blanco, the director of the Arias Foundation, told IPS that the problem of illicit weapons in Central America went beyond trafficking on the black market. It is also "a cinch to buy a gun legally, many of which end up killing family members, neighbors or acquaintances, or are used in suicides," she said.

Blanco said it was easy to get around the requisites for obtaining a permit to carry a gun, whether through connections or bribes. "In some Central American countries, one single permit serves to own three to five guns, and in El Salvador in particular there is no limit," she added.

Blanco, the head of the Arias Foundation that was created by former Costa Rican president (1986-90) and 1987 Nobel Peace laureate Oscar Arias, said the revolver was the most commonly sold weapon in Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, while the pistol was the favorite for gun-buyers in Costa Rica and El Salvador.

In Guatemala, meanwhile, civilians are armed with pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns, she said.

The authorities and activists taking part in the conference said the large number of firearms in the hands of civilians was closely linked to the rise in violence in Central America.

A study carried out in Nicaragua in a three-month period from late 1998 to early 1999 found that someone was shot and killed with a firearm in 30 out of 100 crimes.

"We need to create a regional network to regulate arms trafficking," Roberto Cajina, a civilian consultant on security and defence issues, told IPS.

Cajina, a Nicaraguan, added that the countries of Central America should seek, as a bloc, funding from donor nations, given the difficulty in attaining results if each country fights arms trafficking on its own.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) statistics estimate that violence in Latin America and the Caribbean -- which is closely linked to possession of illicit weapons -- costs Latin America and the Caribbean between $140 and $170 billion a year.

"These costs arise, for example, from the people wounded or killed by guns, or the material damages caused by firearms," Cajina pointed out.

Although there are no precise statistics, experts point to a growing wave of theft, bank robberies, kidnappings and youth gang violence that has swept Central America in the past few years.

Analysts say many civilians have decided to buy guns to defend themselves, due to the growing violence and the failure of law enforcement authorities to provide an adequate response to the situation.

A study carried out by Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, in conjunction with several other institutions, notes that private security agencies have mushroomed in Central America in recent years.

According to the study, in 1999 the Guatemalan government reported the existence of 116 private security companies that employed 35,000 security agents -- more than twice the total number of police officers in the country.

That same year, only 8,118 of the 17,000 private security agents in El Salvador had completed the training course required by the National Academy of Public Security for anyone wishing to work in that field.

The transition from military to civilian control of the police in Honduras and the three Central American countries that experienced post-conflict periods -- Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua -- has given rise to a deficient public security service, the report adds.

Academic institutions in the region say the number of illegal weapons circulating in Central America could be much higher than estimated.

"We reckon that in Guatemala alone, there are two million firearms in the hands of civilians, and in El Salvador half a million," Jose Miguel Cruz, with the Central American University (UCA), a private Salvadoran institution, told IPS.

Cruz, the director of UCA's University Institute of Public Opinion, said that in Central America there could be more than three million guns in the hands of civilians, counting both legally and illegally owned weapons.

"That figure implies a very heavy impact on our societies," and people in Central America, especially Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, feel exposed and vulnerable to the rising violence, he added.

According to official statistics, there are 45 to 50 homicides per 100,000 people in Honduras, 80 to 90 in El Salvador, and 101 in Guatemala -- compared to 2.1 in Canada, 9.5 in the United States, and under 2 per 100,000 in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.

"We must make an effort to pass the necessary laws on possession of firearms, and to exercise better control over the situation," said Cruz.