The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, chose Guatemala as her first destination abroad with a clear objective: to discourage mass migration from Central America. “Do not come”, because “the United States is going to enforce our laws and we are going to secure our border” was the emphatic message sent by the number two of the Biden Administration to those who “are considering undertaking that dangerous and very long journey towards the border between USA and Mexico”. He went further by warning those who flee every year from the violence, misery and hunger that devastate Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that “if you reach our border, you will be turned around to return to your country.”. Thus, Harris stressed that “there are legal methods by which you can migrate” and insisted that one of his priorities is to “discourage illegal migration”, taking into account that those who “benefit from this business are the coyotes”.. To stop the human exodus that is affecting Central America and, in particular, Guatemala, the US vice president promised to “help Guatemalans feel hopeful by staying at home,” for which she announced that help “is on the way” with investments of up to 48 million dollars in agriculture, affordable housing and support for entrepreneurs focusing, above all, on “empowering young women by creating economic opportunities for girls and women”, prioritizing indigenous communities, for which other 40 million dollars in three years.
“Let them know that they are seen, we listen to them and we understand their challenges and their need to receive the resources to be able to not only survive, but to live well,” Harris told those who suffer from poverty in Guatemala, which affects six out of ten people. The US vice president recalled that “most people do not want to leave their homes, leaving behind the place where they originate, nor do they want to be far from where their grandmother lives.”. However, he pointed out that when people migrate from Guatemala to the US it is because “they are fleeing some kind of harm or because staying means that they will not be able to provide themselves with essential needs and those of their family.”
Drugs, corruption and trafficking
For this reason, he appealed to the “power of hope” and announced a first agreement with Guatemala to “strengthen the security” of both countries, for which the US is going to create a task force to combat drug trafficking and trafficking in people, who will work “closely” with the Local Police of the Central American country. “When we see how honorable people are taken advantage of and sold for profit, it is something that concerns us all and we must take care of their well-being.”
Harris also considered it a “priority” to create the economic conditions in Guatemala to avoid migration to the US and, therefore, announced that he will work to make investments in this country.. However, he indicated that the interested businessmen with whom he has spoken have conveyed their concern about the high levels of corruption that this country suffers, so he revealed the creation of a task force to combat this scourge and support the prosecutors of Guatemala. As he explained, it will be made up of the US State, Justice and Treasury Departments that will collaborate to carry out investigations in the Central American country and will train local law enforcement to do the same.. “We know very well that corruption does not recognize borders and, if it is about fighting transnational crime, we have to keep track of money and stop it and that is what we plan to do,” he stressed.. For his part, Alejandro Giammattei welcomed the proposal and pointed out that in his first visit to Washington, before even assuming power, he had already asked the then Secretary of Justice that “we could organize an office to help us pursue the money.”
Of course, the president made a request to Harris so that those assets that are detected in the US “product of corruption and drug trafficking” in Guatemala can return to the country “in order to continue strengthening the system of justice and criminal prosecution.”. Giammattei took the opportunity to emphasize that he has been accused of “zero cases of corruption” and indicated that the Government is in a “frank fight” against this phenomenon that “is not only from politicians, but also involves some people who obtain money from abroad to come to do things here and it is not known who sent it and what it is being used for”. Precisely, the President of the Central American country has given the go-ahead to the reforms to the NGO Law, approved in Congress, in order to be able to oversee how these non-governmental organizations manage public resources, which have denounced that they are being sought to criminalize with this initiative.
TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR MIGRANTS
On the other hand, he took advantage of Harris's visit to reiterate his request that he grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to migrants from Guatemala who currently reside in the US, taking into account the negative economic effects that hurricanes had last year. ETA and IOTA in various regions. “We need you to help our people with the certainty of not being deported and we ask the US to grant TPS so that we can focus here and also helping migrants who are in the US not only to make money and send it, but also to grow and generate companies and projects in Guatemala so that they can return to create opportunities”, remarked. Regarding the reasons why the population emigrates to the US, Giammattei specified that the majority leave the Departments of Huehuetenango, Alta Verapaz, Quiché and San Marcos not because of security problems, but “due to lack of opportunities”, since they are the areas of greatest poverty.
The Vice President of the United States ended her official visit to Guatemala with a meeting with social leaders with whom she promised to continue raising her “concerns about threats to the independence of the judiciary, the press, and civil society.”. He also recalled that the President, Joe Biden, has promised to donate 500,000 coronavirus vaccines to Guatemala and, despite the fact that “it will not solve the problem in its entirety, it will make a difference”. Harris will travel to Mexico in the next few hours to meet this Tuesday with its President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in full hangover after the legislative, gubernatorial and municipal elections last Sunday in which his party, Morena, collapsed in the capital and it will depend on its allies to maintain the majority in the Lower House. In his meeting, it is expected that he will also try to get Mexico to collaborate to stop irregular migration from Central America and that necessarily passes through this country on its way to the 'American dream'.