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This article proposes a systemic approach to explore the determinants of homicides. This approach examines two interrelated factors: a) the interplay between state capacities and the opportunity costs of crime; and b) consequently, the political economy of this interplay. In this article I argue that weakened state capacities in the postconflict period in El Salvador and Guatemala have helped in the creation of a systemic relationship interlocking states' agents and criminal organizations in a modality that perpetuates high rates of homicides. My purpose in this article is to discern core elements of this systemic relationship, its dynamics, and political economy and to answer: what is maintaining the system? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]