Is there a war in Guatemala?

Yes. UCDP lists 1 active armed conflict with fighting recorded in Guatemala.

None at war level (1,000+ deaths in a year). Largest: Jalisco Cartel New Generation - Sinaloa Cartel (mainly in Mexico), 996 deaths in 2025.

Updated 30 October 2026 · UCDP data through 30 September 2026 · View on map →

Deaths recorded in Guatemala in 2025

0in state-based fighting

24in fighting between armed groups

14in attacks on civilians (one-sided violence)

UCDP GED Global 26.1: best estimates for events located in Guatemala (as UCDP places them), by type of violence. The three are shown separately, as UCDP counts them, and are not added together here.

The conflict

Each conflict as UCDP defines it: a dispute with at least 25 battle-related deaths in a year. Figures are UCDP best estimates; the newest months are preliminary and can change. UCDP does not record who started each clash.

Armed conflictNon-state conflict (between armed groups) · UCDP start year 2015

Jalisco Cartel New Generation - Sinaloa Cartel

996deaths in 2025UCDP Non-State Conflict Dataset 26.1

107deaths in Jan–Sep 2026preliminary · UCDP Candidate Events Dataset 26.01.26.09

30,574total 2015–2025sum of the UCDP yearly figures below (11 years listed)

Who is fighting: Jalisco Cartel New Generation vs Sinaloa Cartel

2015highest: 5,2502026*

* Jan–Sep 2026, preliminary (hatched). Grey: year not in the dataset (UCDP lists a conflict-year only with at least 25 deaths).

Latest recorded fighting: July 2026

Conflict-wide figures (not only Guatemala). Also recorded in: Mexico.

Figures by year

Year	Deaths (best estimate)
Jan–Sep 2026 preliminary	107
2025	996
2024	3,103
2023	3,807
2022	4,360
2021	5,250
2020	4,690
2019	2,719
2018	2,758
2017	2,111
2016	725
2015	55

UCDP conflict page · CrisisWatch: Mexico · View on map →

Military personnel

43,000own armed forces (2020)World Bank / IISS · active + paramilitary

Foreign military personnel in Guatemala

United States18

assigned · 31 Aug 2026 · DoD DMDC

Other countries may have forces here; only official, reusable figures are shown.

Other countries with active armed conflicts in Americas

Bolivia Brazil Colombia Costa Rica Ecuador Haiti Mexico Venezuela

All countries →

Sources and licences

Conflicts and deaths: Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), ucdp.uu.se/downloads, CC BY 4.0. Data through 30 September 2026.
Military personnel: World Bank, Armed forces personnel, total (MS.MIL.TOTL.P1); original source IISS, The Military Balance; CC BY 4.0.
Foreign military personnel: UN Department of Peace Operations, uniformed personnel contributions (UN Peace and Security Data Hub, via HDX) (as of 31 Jul 2026, CC BY-IGO 3.0); UK Ministry of Defence, Annual Location Statistics, table 1.1b (as of 1 Apr 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0); Ministère des Armées, Les chiffres clés de la Défense 2026, p.20 (État-major des armées, April 2026) (as of Apr 2026, Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0); DoD Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), Location Report (as of 31 Aug 2026, US government work, public domain).
Protests: The GDELT Project, GDELT 2.0 Event Database; automated, unverified.
Links only (nothing copied): CrisisWatch (© International Crisis Group), GOV.UK travel advice (OGL v3.0), U.S. Department of State (public domain), War WATCH (Geneva Academy), ReliefWeb (UN OCHA).

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