West Germany, Guatemala, and the Transnational Dynamics of Cold War Police Assistance

This article assesses the police-building program designed by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) for Guatemala in 1986–1991. By drawing on interviews and declassified archival evidence collected in Germany, Guatemala, and the United States and applying analytical insights from recent literature in International Relations regarding “transnational fields,” the article shows that the FRG's police-building program was shaped by the contingent convergence of international and domestic political conditions in the FRG and Guatemala, mediated by the agency of various Guatemalan actors. The resulting interactions determined the project's trajectory, leading to many adaptations and revisions of the program to suit the agency of Guatemalan actors. Over time, the cumulative weight of these modifications kept the program from succeeding.