January 16th, 2012
11:50 AM ET

Guatemala's president calls on troops to 'neutralize' organized crime

Guatemala's new president has called on the military to help "neutralize" organized crime in the Central American nation.

A day after he took office, President Otto Perez Molina appeared to be making good on his campaign promises to fight rising crime and violence with an "iron fist."

"Today, publicly, I want to lay out for the army an important goal of collaborating, coordinating and cooperating with other security institutions, and that is to put an end to the external threats and contribute to neutralizing illegal armed groups by means of military power," he said Sunday.

Speaking to troops, Perez Molina said he would provide increased resources to the military. He said he had discussed the new strategy with his defense and interior ministers.

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Filed under: Guatemala
soundoff (4 Responses)
  1. Mmmmm ♔♕

    way togo Molina! only problem would be if organized crime is the military...

    January 16, 2012 at 11:56 am | Report abuse |
  2. American Inner City Police Assoc.

    Good move Mr. Guatemala. Let's see if it works. We like to keep an open mind when it comes to inner-city crime. We've tried some crazy things before...but sending in the troops? To like, neighborhoods and stuff? To like, arrest gangsters? "Hands in the air! You are under arrest by authority of the Pentagon."...sorta has a ring to it.

    January 16, 2012 at 12:26 pm | Report abuse |
  3. beachrat

    Well, hopefully this will go far to alleviate the problem in Guatemala., finally put the army to doing something positive
    Peace

    January 16, 2012 at 1:27 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Tcr c2

    Its about time . They will follow thru i hope it would be nice to see how it works. Maybe a good example for us to follow!

    January 16, 2012 at 4:41 pm | Report abuse |
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