Altered States: Security and Demilitarization in Central America

by Adam Isacson

Central America has yet to gain full control of its armed forces. Militaries, where they exist, continue to exercise disproportionate influence while enjoying impunity, outsized budgets and continued close relations with the United States. Yet none of the security threats facing Central America today, this book argues, requires a military response. In fact, peace and democracy in the region will require even deeper reductions in military structures -- and, where possible, their complete abolition. This conclusion emerges from an exhaustive survey of current military sizes and roles in all seven Central American countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama). Altered States surveys the entire range of possible security threats (both "military" and "civilian"), the degree of civilian control over each country's security forces, the extent of current U.S. security assistance and linkages, and the possibility for greater collective-security guarantees. Finding that the region's militaries are irrelevant to today's security needs, Altered States lays out what must be done so that Central America and the United States can functon without them. Altered States is the product of a three-year collaboration between Costa Rica's Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress and the Washington-based Center for International Policy.

Paperback

Published October 15, 1997