Land usurpation: penalties, cases and invasions
- Land and property for foreigners
- Who may hold land, and on what title
- Audited
The Penal Code (Decree 17-73, checked in audit) defines usurpation in art. 256, with imprisonment of 1 to 3 years — remaining on the land constitutes flagrancy and requires immediate eviction — and aggravated usurpation in art. 257, with 2 to 6 years. According to Prensa Digital 24-7, up to 2021 the Public Prosecutor's Office had counted 19,051 usurpation cases, against only 68 evictions carried out between 2017 and 2021; the primary origin of that figure within the Public Prosecutor's Office is still to be confirmed. A CABI study for the Chamber of Agriculture estimated that the 2018 invasions took 0.6% off national output. AGEXPORT and Mejoremos Guate published a private protocol for responding to usurpations of private property.
The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.
Figures
- Pena por usurpación (art. 256)
- 1–3 años de prisión
- Pena por usurpación agravada (art. 257)
- 2–6 años de prisión
- Casos de usurpación contabilizados por el MP
- 19,051
- Desalojos ejecutados
- 68
- Impacto de las invasiones en la producción nacional
- -0.6%
Caveat
Sources
- Código Penal, Decreto 17-73, arts. 256–257 (PDF ONU)
- Prensa Digital 24-7, “Usurpación de tierras, un delito que involucra al crimen organizado”
- República, “Invasión de tierras: la intranquilidad que acecha la propiedad privada” (14-sep-2020)
- AGEXPORT / Mejoremos Guate, Protocolo para la respuesta ante usurpaciones a la propiedad privada (PDF)
Organizations named in the answer
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