Police and Security in the World Heritage City of Antigua, Guatemala

Antigua, Guatemala faces growing security challenges that contradict its image as a tranquil colonial city. Research reveals that both locals and tourists are increasingly concerned about crime, particularly tourism-related offenses and drug trafficking, which the city was ill-prepared to handle. The study employs ethnographic methods, focusing on police dynamics, to explore the ambiguous attitudes of Antigüeños and Maya communities toward law enforcement. It highlights how tourism's lens interacts with policing, challenging perceptions shaped by the site's heritage status. The findings draw on theories of 'spectacle' (Debord), 'state of exception' (Agamben), and 'system nervous' (Taussig) to contextualize these tensions within a transnational tourist framework.

Little, W. E. (2014). Police and Security in the World Heritage City of Antigua, Guatemala. The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 19(3), 396–417. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/jlca.12102