Guatemala, 22 May 2014. During a recent seminar with students of the Masters in Strategic Studies, Public Policy and International Relations at the Universidad Rafael Landívar, Commissioner Iván Velásquez Gómez presented an overview of problems related to narcotics, guerilla groups and paramilitarism that his native country, Colombia, has faced.

He stressed the importance of building a culture of lawfulness in order to contribute to tackling impunity and to defend the rights they had as citizens to create genuine rule of law.

He said that illegal groups should not be allowed to take control in regions where the State has no presence, as was the case in Colombia for a number of years.

At the event, Professor David Martínez-Amador also participated and highlighted the need for institutional rebuilding, including appropriate mechanisms to ensure the efficiency of such institutions.

After the presentations of the Commissioner and Martínez-Amador, the attendees voiced their observations regarding how the Colombian experience could be applied to help to tackle organized crime, clandestine security forces and the illegal financing of political parties in Guatemala, among other issues raised during the seminar.