Strategic Re-alignment in Post-Conflict Borderlands: Assessing Cross-Border Security Networks in Mesoamerica

Global Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies | Vol. 6, No. 12, December 2015 | pp. 550–558

DOI: 10.46882/2015/GJPCS/000083

Article Type: Original Research Paper

Title: Strategic Re-alignment in Post-Conflict Borderlands: Assessing Cross-Border Security Networks in Mesoamerica

Names of Authors: Carlos Fuentes¹, Lucia Santos²

Authors’ Affiliations: ¹Department of Public Policy, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia; ²School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States

Abstract: Abstract: The consolidation of security frameworks across highly porous transboundary zones represents a vital phase in minimizing the operational expansion of non-state armed actors. This study evaluates the structural outcomes of coordinated inter-state border sweeps executed along volatile Mesoamerican crossing corridors from 2012 to 2014. Using an empirical mixed-methods design, we evaluated illegal weapons interdiction data alongside structural surveys from 480 cross-border community members. The statistical outputs show that establishing synchronized tactical patrol parameters correlates with a 38% reduction in illicit tactical supply network successful transits (p < 0.05). However, further micro-level regression indicators show that these top-down border interventions heavily degrade local borderland community livelihood indices due to restricted cross-border commerce access (R² = 0.44). The study reveals that a lack of harmonized humanitarian protocols within joint strategic operational guidelines breeds local hostility toward security enforcement personnel. The paper concludes that border pacification mandates cannot maintain long-term institutional legitimacy without incorporating community-led agrarian trade protection zones.

Keywords: Mesoamerican Borderlands, Cross-Border Security, Tactical Interdiction, Non-State Armed Actors, Livelihood Disruption, Institutional Legitimacy

Manuscript Timeline: Received: July 12, 2015; Revised: September 18, 2015; Accepted: October 24, 2015; Published: December 05, 2015

Citation: Fuentes, C., & Santos, L. (2015). Strategic Re-alignment in Post-Conflict Borderlands: Assessing Cross-Border Security Networks in Mesoamerica. Global Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, 6(12), 550–558. DOI: 10.46882/2015/GJPCS/000083

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