Introduction: Corruption and State Capture: Emerging Topics in the International Security Agenda

The political corruption phenomenon has slowly transformed itself into a serious threat to peace and international security, since among other negative consequences, it facilitates the infiltration or capture of government institutions and favors violence and impunity. The emergence of Hybrid Anticorruption Agencies (HACAs)—CICIG in Guatemala and MACCIH in Honduras—created by the United Nations and the Organization of American States respectively, gives prominence to innovative instruments for the identification and disarticulation of complex structures of corruption at the highest levels of government. This is due to the insertion of fiscal and international experts in processes of penal investigation and criminal prosecution at the domestic level. The chapter maintains that these organizations are significantly innovative, though also vulnerable and inherently risky in the fight against corruption.