Expectations aroused by President Otto Pérez Molina’s surprising drug legalisation proposal that the new right-wing leader might pursue a more nuanced approach to security than his mano dura (repressive) approach to crime would otherwise suggest are fast dissipating. Earlier this month he decreed a 30-day state of siege in a municipality in north-west Guatemala in response to an outbreak of violence. While not a surprise given the mano dura platform on which he was elected, the measure - which was invoked twice by his centre-left predecessor Alvaro Colom (2008-2012) during the course of his entire mandate - coupled with suspicion regarding Pérez Molina’s motives, has set off alarm bells among civil society. End of preview - This article contains approximately 1170 words.
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