The CIA World Factbook Every edition, 2021 to 2025 Central America and the Caribbean

Military - note Guatemala, in 5 editions.

The entry for Guatemala published Military - note in 5 editions of 36, from 2021 to 2025. The text changed in 4 editions. Each is shown as published. Military - note in every entry.

editions changed the text
4
the first edition with it
2021
the latest edition with it
2025

Published as “Military - note” (2021 to 2025).

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe edition shownChoose an edition on the strip beside the text, or step through them with the arrows. Mark changes compares it with the edition before: the marks are ours, words added and words removed.

2025 edition

Changed since 2024

Open the 2025 entry

  • the military is responsible for maintaining the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the honor of Guatemala, but has long focused on internal security;
  • since the 2000s, the Guatemalan Government has used the military to support the National Civil Police in internal security operations (as permitted by the constitution) to combat organized crime, gang violence, and narco-trafficking;
  • other responsibilities include border security, cybersecurity, and providing humanitarian assistance;
  • it also participates in UN missions on a small scale and has a peacekeeping operations training command that offers training to regional countries;
  • the military has security ties with regional partners such as Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, and Honduras;
  • cooperation with El Salvador and Honduras has included a combined police-military anti-gang task force to patrol border areas;
  • it also has ties with the US, including joint training exercises and material assistance
  • the military held power during most of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war (1960-1996) and conducted a campaign of widespread violence and repression, particularly against the country’s majority indigenous population;
  • more than 200,000 people were estimated to have been killed or disappeared during the conflict (2025)

the military is responsible for maintaining the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the honor of Guatemala, but has long focused on internal security; since the 2000s, the Guatemalan Government has used the military to support the National Civil Police in internal security operations (as permitted by the constitution) to combat organized crime, gang violence, and narco-trafficking; in recent years however, the military has sought to place more focus on other missions such as responsibilities include border security and traditional military operations; it has also created new brigades for cybersecurity (2024) security, cybersecurity, and responding to national emergencies/providing providing humanitarian assistance (2023); assistance; it also participates in UN missions on a small scale and has a peacekeeping operations training command that offers training to regional countries; the military has security ties with regional partners such as Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, and Honduras; cooperation with El Salvador and Honduras has included a combined police-military anti-gang task force to patrol border areas; it also has ties with the US, including joint training exercises and material assistance
the military held power during most of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war (1960-1996) and conducted a campaign of widespread violence and repression, particularly against the country’s majority indigenous population; more than 200,000 people were estimated to have been killed or disappeared during the conflict (2024) (2025)

Cite this page

Central Intelligence Agency. “Guatemala: Military - note.” The World Factbook, 2021–2025 editions. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/guatemala/military-note.

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