The government of President Otto Pérez Molina has been playing up its success in bringing down Guatemala’s homicide rate in its first two years in office from 48 to 34 per 100,000 inhabitants. Critics have noted that in fact the decline had begun early in the term of his predecessor, Álvaro Colom (2008-2012), and some have suggested that the downward trend is actually flattening out. They are half right, but there is more politics than cool analysis to the criticism. On the other side, the government has yet to prove that it can spread its success from the department of Guatemala to the rest of the country.End of preview - This article contains approximately 949 words.
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