The Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (Fundesa) presented a proposal aimed at strengthening coordination between the institutions that make up the criminal justice system, with the goal of reducing the homicide rate from 16 to eight per 100,000 inhabitants over the next 10 years.
The proposal was presented during the Justice System discussion: the Challenge of Coordinating all Institutions, which is part of the activities of the National Meeting of Entrepreneurs (Enade) 2026.
Representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Ministry, Judicial Agency, National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif) and the Coordinating Body for the Modernization of the Justice Sector participated in the activity.
The vice president of Fundesa, Gabriela Roca, pointed out that security and justice require a shared vision between the different entities of the State. “The challenge is to build a criminal justice system capable of measuring its results, coordinating in a comprehensive manner, being accountable to citizens and improving the quality of life of Guatemalans,” he stated.
According to data presented during the event, in 2025 there were 270 more homicides than in 2024, and the rate grew 7.5% compared to the previous year. In 2025, the year closed with 3,139 homicides, while in 2024, 2,869 were reported.
According to Roca, these figures remind us that the conversation cannot wait, and that coordination between institutions is not a technicality, but an urgency. “Behind these figures there is a life, a family and a community. No institution alone solves the problem. If one fails, the whole also fails,” he said.
Given this panorama, Roca highlighted that the proposal consists of moving towards a shared vision and a common strategic plan. “Towards interoperability and a single case number, towards shared indicators, inter-institutional dialogues and a criminal justice observatory,” he reiterated.
Roca added that the transformation of criminal justice in the country belongs to everyone. “It is not about one institution against another, but about all of them towards the same purpose, with tangible and quantifiable objectives, such as budgets prepared according to results and that great goal, the most important, which is to save lives,” he explained.
System bottlenecks
The technical coordinator of the Coalition for Citizen Security, María del Carmen Aceña, explained that the progress made in reducing homicides in recent years has demonstrated the importance of coordination between institutions.
However, he pointed out that one of the main findings of the analyzes carried out is that the entities that make up the justice system usually operate independently, despite the fact that citizens perceive their results as a single process. “People don’t experience seven institutions; they experience one system,” he said.
Aceña recalled that the institutions involved in criminal justice include the National Civil Police (PNC), the Public Ministry (MP), the Judicial Agency (OJ), the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif), the Institute of Public Criminal Defense, the Victim’s Institute and the Penitentiary System (SP).
In his opinion, the challenge is for these entities to not only fulfill their individual functions, but also coordinate objectives, plans and resources to improve the overall results of the system. “Institutions must have the capacity to fall behind less, organize their resources and comply with the duties that their regulations indicate,” he added.
Aceña compared the functioning of criminal justice to a gear in which each component is essential to achieve results. As he explained, when an institution faces delays, resource limitations or coordination problems, the impact is transferred to the rest of the chain.
In this sense, he highlighted that the flow of criminal justice developed in recent years has made it possible to identify critical points within the system, including procedural delays, budgetary limitations and obstacles in the exchange of information between institutions.
He added that it is important to have indicators that allow evaluating institutional performance and detecting bottlenecks. As an example, he cited a study carried out by the Criminal Justice Observatory of the Rafael Landívar University in 2015, which estimated that the resolution of a homicide case could take, on average, 734 days.
Coordination and technological modernization
During the discussion, the panelists agreed that technological modernization is one of the tools that could improve institutional coordination.
The first deputy secretary general of the MP, Claudia Caballeros, pointed out that the institution has identified two main obstacles to a more efficient investigation: the first is the time to obtain information and the second is coordination with other entities.
As he explained, although there are currently information exchange mechanisms and technical working groups between institutions, these must be strengthened to respond more quickly to the needs of investigations.
Caballeros stated that one of the alternatives to face these challenges is to move towards interoperable systems that allow information to be shared more efficiently. As an example, he mentioned that a complaint filed with the PNC can take up to four days to be formally transferred to the Public Ministry. “These times are fatal days for the purposes of the criminal investigation, the response and care for the victim,” he said.
The official added that the MP already works together with Inacif to establish permanent coordination tables and analyze experiences that allow strengthening interconnectivity between institutions.
For her part, the general director of Inacif, Ingrid Johanna Romero, warned that budgetary limitations continue to be one of the main obstacles to expanding coverage and strengthening the technical capabilities of the institution.
Romero explained that, while the MP and the OJ have a presence in almost all the municipalities of the country, the Inacif only reaches around 18% municipal coverage. “An inadequate budget is the main limitation that has harmed Inacif to continue expanding its services,” he stated.
The director pointed out that this situation has an impact on the infrastructure available to experts and on the ability to bring forensic services closer to different regions of the country. In addition, he indicated that the institution’s 16 crime laboratories remain centralized in the capital.
A common strategy
From the perspective of the operational institutions, the Vice Minister of Security, Francisco Solórzano, highlighted that the reduction in violence recorded in previous years was the result of coordinated efforts between the PNC, the MP and other State entities.
The official recalled that Guatemala recorded homicide rates of over 40 per one hundred thousand inhabitants and pointed out that the progress obtained was the product of institutional reforms, the strengthening of investigation capacities and inter-institutional coordination.
Likewise, he indicated that the current administration seeks to strengthen this cooperation, especially in the fight against extortion, organized crime and criminal structures linked to drug trafficking. “We have to understand that there can be no economic development or social development without taking into account justice,” he stated.
Along the same lines, the president of the OJ and the Supreme Court of Justice, Claudia Paredes, pointed out that strengthening the justice system requires simultaneous progress in judicial independence, professionalization, technological modernization and access to justice. “Technology must definitely be a tool, an instrument. It cannot replace the judge’s reasoning,” he said.
Paredes added that the current management of the OJ prioritizes the strengthening of the judicial career, the digitalization of processes and the expansion of specialized jurisdictional bodies.