Sustentaculum cities: Mexican Economic and Social Refuge due to Guatemalan Structural Violence

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the mobilities across the border between Guatemala and Mexico as forced displacement, since they are caused by the indirect violence arising from the failed implementation of the peace agreements signed in 1996, at the end of the internal Guatemalan conflict. To this end, the author understands the constitution of the neighboring Mexican community as a place for sustenance, in which spaces of refuge and special rights are informally being provided to the Guatemalan foreigner. The paper concludes by referring to the need for reviewing the current conceptualizations of the international protection categories around migration, especially those of refuge and internal displacement.