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 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.
Central America
New dismembered bodies found in San Juan river days after mass killing in Palencia
On the morning of Monday, October 27, Guatemala’s Volunteer Firefighters confirmed the discovery of two bodies and two human heads inside plastic bags in the San Juan River, located in the Zacualpía village at kilometer 21 of the Atlantic Highway, in the jurisdiction of Palencia.
The remains were found by personnel from Companies 85, 50, and Central, who responded after receiving a report about suspicious bags floating in the water. The gruesome discovery was made just a few meters from the site where eight tortured bodies were found under the San Juan Bridge on Friday, October 24.
Local authorities do not rule out a connection between both incidents and suspect they may be tied to the same criminal organization. Investigators from the Public Ministry and the National Civil Police arrived at the scene to gather evidence and transfer the remains to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif).
According to data from the National Economic Research Center (CIEN), Guatemala recorded 2,154 homicides between January and August 2025, an increase compared to the 1,816 reported during the same period in 2024.
Central America
Four guatemalan soldiers arrested for stealing weapons from Northern Air Command
Four soldiers were arrested in connection with the theft of weapons from the Northern Air Command of the Ministry of Defense in Petén, Guatemala, following operations conducted by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office).
“During the operations, criminal scenes were processed, analyzed, and documented photographically, possible escape routes were identified, surveillance cameras were located, and potential witnesses were interviewed,” the Prosecutor’s Office explained in a social media post.
The detained soldiers were identified as Ludwin Jónathan Cardona Baltazar, charged with illicit association, dereliction of duty, and aggravated theft; and Josué Israel Pérez Jerónimo, Alain Omar Marroquín Soch, and Carlos Ernesto Ibarra Corrales, charged with dereliction of duty, according to Guatemala’s Prensa Libre.
The military personnel reportedly stole 55 rifles, 14,420 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, 92 magazines of 35 rounds each, 19 magazines of 20 rounds each, and three grenade launchers, “which were allegedly moved from the arms warehouse to the outside for illicit sale.”
The Ministry of Defense stated that it will keep its internal control mechanisms active to prevent similar incidents.
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