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National Security Archive Update, November 18, 2005

For more information contact:
Kate Doyle – 202/994-7000

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Washington D.C., November 18, 2005 – Investigative journalist Frank Smyth breaks new ground in documenting links between retired Guatemalan military officers and drug trafficking into the United States in “The Untouchable Narco-State: Guatemala’s Military Defies the DEA.” Smyth’s story, featured in the independent weekly Texas Observer appearing on news stands today, uses declassified U.S. documents from the National Security Archive among other critical evidence. These records, which were posted today on the National Security Archive’s website, describe a powerful and brutal military institution with intimate ties to the United States and a history of corruption.

Smyth’s article tells the devastating tale of ongoing, endemic corruption in Guatemala, made possible by the clandestine ties between smugglers and former senior military officers. Unlike other Latin American countries like Colombia and Mexico, Guatemala has not prosecuted or extradited any of its drug kingpins for a over decade. Today the country is a hub for drug smuggling into the United States — according to statistics cited in the article, up to 75% of all cocaine that reaches the United States passes through this Central American nation.

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THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A tax-exempt public charity, the Archive receives no U.S. government funding; its budget is supported by publication royalties and donations from foundations and individuals.