Security
Crime, as a budget line.
What gets stolen, where, what guarding it costs, and which part of the fear the figures do not support.
executive decrees
What crime charges against the margin.
32 topics
The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.
The picture, as the public record has it
6 topicsExtortion: who it reaches and how it is reported
9 topics- Extortion in 2024 and its downward trend in 2026
- Evolution of extortion complaints, 2012-2023
- Geography of extortion and its typical victims
- Anatomy of extortion: imitators and prisons
- Extortion offenses and penalties in the Penal Code
- The judicial funnel of extortion complaints
- Anti-extortion units and reporting channels
- MS-13, Barrio 18 and Anti-Gang Law 11-2025
See the remaining one
Cargo, corridors and escorts
7 topics- Highest-risk routes for cargo transport
- Truck and container theft series, 2017-2025
- The drop from 200 to 2 truck thefts a month, under caution
- GPS jammers and truck theft on demand
- Stolen cargo value and signal jammer regulation
- The public-private response to truck theft
- Road blockades and logistics redundancy
Private security and the law that governs it
8 topics- Decree 52-2010, the private security law
- DIGESSP as the private security regulator
- Penalties for hiring unlicensed private security
- Costs of guards, cargo escorts and GPS monitoring
- The 275 authorized private security companies
- The 19,977 credentialed guards and the largest firms
- DIGESSP licensing for GPS, alarms and monitoring
- Growth of the private security registry, 2017-2026
Moving the risk: insurance and cover
2 topicsThis layer is research: read from public sources by the archive's own team, every claim cited with the date it was consulted, and audited where it is marked so. It has not entered the verified store — no figure here was fetched back from its source or stamped with a retrieval time — so it wears no red provenance numeral and never mixes with the verified figures.
Regulators of private security
2 organizations
SIB — Superintendencia de Bancos
- Supervisor of the banking system; source of banking statistics and material disclosures (the archive's banking_sib_* series). Banking supervisor: publishes system assets (Q642,350.0 M at December 2025, +12.3%), the weighted average interest rate by currency and segment (on the 12th working day of each month), the rate applied by each bank, and a monthly statistical bulletin (§1, §3).
DIGESSP — Dirección General de Servicios de Seguridad Privada
- The authority created by Decree 52-2010, housed in the Ministry of the Interior (Mingob) and founded on 2 May 2011: it publishes the register of 275 authorized entities (series A/B/H licenses, legal representative, address, term of validity) and the report of 19,977 agent credentials as at 31 July 2026 — a direct input for vetting a provider; it also licenses GPS/monitoring and alarms; a schedule of procedure fees and the SIGESSP platform for checking licenses online.
Suppliers and support services
11 organizations
Alfa Uno, S.A.
- The largest employer of accredited private security agents: 3,458 credentials in force as at 31 July 2026 (DIGESSP register).
Wackenhut de Guatemala
- The second-largest employer of accredited agents: 2,789 credentials in force as at 31 July 2026 (DIGESSP register).
Seguridad y Vigilancia El Ébano
- The third-largest employer of accredited agents: 1,674 credentials in force as at 31 July 2026 (DIGESSP register).
VISEGUA
- A private security firm with 867 agent credentials in force as at 31 July 2026 (DIGESSP register).
ALCORSA
- A private security firm with 335 agent credentials in force as at 31 July 2026 (DIGESSP register).
- A security provider whose blog sets out the scope of the DIGESSP license (GPS/satellite monitoring, alarms, monitoring centers) and the SIGESSP platform.
- Armed cargo escort in Central America 'from USD 150 per day' and satellite monitoring 'from USD 50 per unit per month'; standard practice: armed escort or in-cab accompaniment, GPS check-in points, a post-delivery report; it recommends verifying cargo insurance policies.
Marsh
- Insurance broker suggested as a contact on cargo-cover requirements.
AON
- Insurance broker suggested as a contact on cargo-cover requirements.
Uber
- Pre-vetted transport recommended by OSAC from La Aurora airport (zone 13).
Kiosco 'SAFE' (Aeropuerto La Aurora)
- A pre-vetted taxi kiosk at La Aurora airport recommended by OSAC.
Security and justice institutions
20 organizations
- Criminal investigating body; relevant to governance risk (the TCQ case) and to extortion statistics; its 2018-2026 attorney general was sanctioned by the United States and the EU.
Organismo Judicial (OJ) — Centro de Análisis y Documentación Judicial
- Publishes the text of Decree 19-2016, which restricted the 29-89 regime to apparel and textiles and to ICT/call centers
Departamento de Estado de EE. UU.
- Investment Climate Statement (ICS) 2024 and 2025 for Guatemala: summarizes that the Foreign Investment Law gives foreigners the same property rights, the prohibition on the strips along rivers, oceans and borders, and the risk of defective title and registry gaps in rural areas
DFC (U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, ex OPIC)
- A US$300 M loan to BI approved on 15 January 2025 (on-lending to MSMEs; total cost US$375 M) after up to US$200 M in 2020; public OPIC summary of BI's DPR of up to US$250 M over 12 years (§8, §9).
Ministerio de Gobernación (Mingob)
- Parent of DIGESSP and of the National Civil Police (PNC); it convened the 2024 public-private security working group against container-truck theft (monitoring of ~12,000 units, direct alerts to police precincts in <3 min); a candidate for a freedom-of-information request covering the PNC series on heavy-transport theft.
Policía Nacional Civil (PNC)
- Source of the statistics on extortion, kidnapping and heavy-transport theft; runs the response protocol for GPS alerts through police precincts; OSAC notes that it lacks personnel, equipment and investigative capacity (6 months of training) — it is no substitute for private protocols.
DIPANDA — División contra pandillas de la PNC
- A PNC division created in 2014 with 17 offices, part of the institutional response to extortion.
GECE — Grupo Especial Contra Extorsiones (PNC)
- A special PNC unit created in 2024 to counter extortion (OSAC CSR 2025).
PLADEIC (Mingob/PNC)
- Source of the monthly homicide figures and annualized rate compiled in CIEN's IDD bulletin (June 2026: 265 homicides, 8.83 a day, 16.3 per 100k).
PROVIAL
- The 1520 line for road conditions and blockades — recommended by OSAC for planning journeys (protests routinely block the CA-1, the CA-5 and the Pan-American Highway).
Fiscalía de Sección contra las Extorsiones (MP)
- A specialized prosecution unit of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP), created in 2015, with 11 offices.
Juzgado y Tribunal contra Extorsiones
- Specialized judicial bodies created in 2020 for the department of Guatemala (excluding Villa Nueva, Mixco and Amatitlán).
Congreso de la República — Comisión de Gobernación
- It passed Decree 11-2025 (the Anti-Gang Law, 21 October 2025) and ratified the state of siege of January 2026; its Interior Committee proposed restricting the purchase of signal jammers to the Ministry of the Interior (Mingob), with 3–7 years for possession by a private party.
- Publishes the consolidated text of the Criminal Code with the 2025 reforms (art. 261, extortion: 6–12 years, non-commutable).
AGIS — Asociación Guatemalteca de Instituciones de Seguros
- The insurers' trade association; suggested contact for cargo-cover requirements (mandatory GPS, escort scaled to value, deductibles for theft involving a jammer).
CGTC — Cámara Guatemalteca de Transporte de Carga
- The freight transport trade association; its executive director José Alejandro Ramírez reported 10–15 container thefts a week in early 2024.
Coordinadora Nacional de Transportes
- A hauliers' association; its coordinator María Teresa González documented the use of signal jammers (GPS, WiFi, mobile) in container-truck thefts.
OSAC — Overseas Security Advisory Council (Depto. de Estado de EE. UU.)
- Publishes the annual Guatemala Country Security Report (15 May 2025 edition): 24,978 extortion reports in 2024, kidnappings, areas of concern, corporate good practice (vehicles, routes, blockades, emergencies) and the 'material support' warning attached to paying extortion to FTO-designated groups.
Embajada de los Estados Unidos en Guatemala
- Issues security alerts (for example a temporary shelter-in-place during the state of siege of January 2026); it bars its staff from using public buses and unvetted taxis; its local employees have also been victims of extortion.
Bomberos
- Emergency numbers cited by OSAC for operations in Guatemala.