Central America
Harris says US wants to work with Guatemala to limit migration
AFP/Editor
US Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday the United States hopes to work with Guatemala to address the root causes of illegal migration by creating “a sense of hope” in the poverty- and violence-plagued country, on her first trip abroad since taking office.
Meeting President Alejandro Giammattei in Guatemala City, Harris said reducing undocumented migration from Central to North America was a priority for US President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Most people do not want to leave the place where they grew up,” loved ones, and people with whom they share a language and culture, Harris said.
But they often do so “either because they are fleeing some harm or because they simply cannot satisfy their basic needs by staying at home,” she added.
Regardless of their reasons for leaving, Harris urged would-be migrants not to make the journey: “Do not come” to the United States, she told them.
“The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders… If you come to our border, you will be turned back,” she said.
Instead, she proposed that the United States and Guatemala “work together” to find solutions to “long-standing problems.”
Critically, people must be given “a sense of hope that help is on the way,” said Harris.
“It must be coupled with relationships of trust. It must be coupled with tangible outcomes, in terms of what we do as leaders to convince people that there is a reason to be hopeful about their future and the future of their children.”
– Create conditions –
Giammattei said Guatemala wanted to cooperate “to create conditions in Guatemala so that they (young people) can find here the hope they do not have today.”
Harris announced a joint task force on smuggling and human trafficking, a women’s empowerment program, and an anti-corruption task force to help Central American law enforcement prosecute cases.
She rejected Republican criticism of the fact that neither she nor Biden had visited the US southern border, saying she had come to Central America to discuss matters in a “way that is significant and has real results” rather than making “grand gestures.”
Harris, who later flew to Mexico to meet President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday, said she had told Giammattei the United States would send 500,000 coronavirus vaccines to Guatemala.
Her trip is part of the Biden administration’s promise to implement a more humane immigration policy after the hardline approach taken by his predecessor Donald Trump.
But the Republican opposition has accused Biden of creating a “crisis” on the country’s southern border by failing to rein in migration.
Congress must still decide whether to approve the $861 million Biden has asked for next year as part of a $4 billion plan to tackle the issue.
American officials have in recent days called on Central American countries to defend democracy and fight corruption in a bid to improve conditions at home and thus eliminate a driving factor for migration.
Asked Monday about Guatemala’s anti-corruption stance, Giammattei said: “How many cases of corruption have I been accused of? I can give you the answer: Zero.”
Central America
Arévalo warns of ‘Dark Interests’ targeting human rights defenders in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León warned on Thursday that human rights defenders are facing serious threats, aggression, and criminalization by “dark interests” embedded within the structures of the State.
“Today we are facing serious levels of threats, aggression, and criminalization against people who promote respect for human rights, coming from actors and criminal networks—sometimes embedded in State institutions—that refuse to accept that Guatemala is changing,” Arévalo said during a public event held at the former Government Palace.
During the event, authorities presented the Public Policy for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders 2025–2035, an initiative developed in compliance with a 2014 resolution from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), issued in response to the killing of activist Florentín Gudiel Ramos in 2004.
Central America
Newborn found in Costa Rican dump survives two days in unsanitary conditions
Costa Rican media outlets report that a newborn baby was found in a garbage dump, where he had reportedly spent two days in unsanitary conditions.
Police located the infant after a resident alerted authorities upon hearing crying coming from a clandestine dumping site in the Rancho Guanacaste area. The newborn was discovered alive inside a drainage channel, covered in waste. He was immediately taken to the National Children’s Hospital, where he received medical care and is now in stable condition.
“The National Children’s Hospital confirms that we indeed received a newborn approximately four or five days old who was found in a wooded area near the Alajuelita roundabout. He was first taken to the Solón Núñez Clinic and then transferred to this hospital. As of now, the baby is in the emergency department in good condition. He arrived a bit cold, but he has been warmed, fed, and his initial physical exam is completely normal,” explained hospital director Carlos Jiménez Herrera, according to CR Hoy.
Central America
Arévalo accuses Porras and judge of undermining democracy in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo denounced a new attempt at a “coup” orchestrated by the Attorney General’s Office. He also requested an extraordinary session at the Organization of American States (OAS) to address the country’s ongoing political crisis.
The president has been at odds with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for being “corrupt” and “anti-democratic.” Since 2023, Arévalo has accused Porras of launching investigations against his party, Semilla, and the 2023 elections as part of a scheme to prevent his inauguration in January 2024.
From the presidential office, Arévalo has said he continues to “resist” the “coup plotters,” but tensions escalated last Friday when Judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of the Attorney General’s Office, ordered the electoral court to annul the Semilla party’s promoter group. Arévalo interpreted this as an attempt to revoke the positions won by the party.
“Orellana, a hitman who distorts the law in service of Consuelo Porras, is attempting to force […] the unconstitutional removal of a mayor, 23 elected deputies […], the vice president, and the president of the country,” Arévalo said in a televised address on Sunday.
“We call on the international community not to turn a blind eye to the coup being attempted in Guatemala,” he added, speaking alongside his cabinet and congressional members at the National Palace in Guatemala City.
Arévalo requested that the Organization of American States hold an extraordinary session to present “the serious threats” to the Guatemalan Constitution and democracy perpetrated by Porras and Orellana.
Yesterday, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez reaffirmed the president’s statements, emphasizing the need “to go and expose the situation” Guatemala has been facing since last week due to the actions of the Attorney General’s Office.
79-Year-Old ICE Detainee Faces Hearing as Family Warns His Health Is Rapidly Deteriorating
Trump: “I Don’t Rule Out Anything” When Asked About Troops for Venezuela
Armed Civilians Block Roads in Michoacán Amid Operation Targeting Criminal Leader
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
Central America4 days agoArévalo warns of ‘Dark Interests’ targeting human rights defenders in Guatemala
-
International4 days agoColombia reaches $4.5 billion deal to acquire 17 Gripen Fighter Jets from Saab
-
Central America4 days agoNewborn found in Costa Rican dump survives two days in unsanitary conditions
-
International1 day agoSinger seriously injured after knife attack in Tokyo’s Akasaka District
-
International2 days agoOmbudsman confirms deaths of six minors in bombing targeting FARC dissidents
-
International3 hours agoArmed Men Kidnap 25 Schoolgirls in Northwestern Nigeria, Police Report
-
International3 hours agoTrump: “I Don’t Rule Out Anything” When Asked About Troops for Venezuela
-
International3 hours agoArmed Civilians Block Roads in Michoacán Amid Operation Targeting Criminal Leader
-
International2 hours ago79-Year-Old ICE Detainee Faces Hearing as Family Warns His Health Is Rapidly Deteriorating