This will create the conditions to prevent the flow of irregular migrants to US territory, said the diplomat in charge of overseeing White House policy in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
After two days of meetings with Guatemalan officials, Joe Biden’s special envoy for the Northern Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador), Ricardo Zúñiga, gave statements to the press in the neighboring country, in which he emphasize that one of the points to which they will bet more is the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law in these three countries.
“We talked to the Chancellor (of Guatemala, Pedro Brolo) about the importance of the rule of law in helping to create the conditions” necessary so that people do not have to leave these countries irregularly to the United States, he said the experienced diplomat.
It is thanks to democracy, he added, that it is possible to attract investment and generate jobs, as well as meet the health and education needs of Guatemalan citizens, but also Hondurans and Salvadorans.
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According to the diagnosis of the Biden administration, it is through the care of basic needs, the search for economic opportunities, the fight against crime, the fight against corruption and the strengthening of democracy that the exodus will be sought. mass of Central Americans to the United States.
Work tables
Ricardo Zúñiga added that he had a thorough discussion with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei about the need to think more and more ways to create opportunities for Guatemalans.
Therefore, during the second day of his visit, he and other officials representing the White House integrated three working tables in which they addressed three main points: migration, opportunity creation, and the fight against crime and smuggling.
In this process, the diplomat in charge of overseeing US policy. UU. In the Northern Triangle he stressed that “never in so many years of diplomatic work have I been in a country where I have found more than half of a government’s cabinet in less than 18 hours.”
For his part, the Guatemalan chancellor explained the composition of the three working tables.
In the economic development, Brolo stated that members of the Ministries of Economy, Education, Agriculture, Finance and Labor participated. Here, they addressed “the need to address the structural causes that give rise to migration from the point of view of comprehensive development, economic development, production, community development, investment and trade openness,” the chancellor added.
They also talked about routes for exporting agricultural products to the United States, he said.
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The security table was made up of members of the US delegation, as well as personnel from the Defense and Government portfolios (which in Guatemala is equivalent to the Ministry of Security). There were also delegates from the Superintendency of Tax Administration and the local Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In it, he illustrated that they talked about the existing cooperation between these institutions and agencies of the US government and called for this collaboration to be extended.
“The support we have had to fight smuggling and fight tax evasion and customs fraud is important,” the Guatemalan official stressed.
Finally, he explained that the migration table was attended by the deputy director of the Guatemalan Migration Institute, the National Council for Migrant Care, the nation’s attorney general, as well as representatives of the United Nations, the UNHCR, UNICEF and the World Organization for Migration.
“We are looking together with U.S. government authorities to integrate efforts that allow us to address not only migratory things only in economic development but better care is given to migrants in transit and returnees,” the Guatemalan chancellor said.
Both Zúñiga and Brolo stressed that the borders of the United States are closed and called on Guatemalan citizens and the rest of the Northern Triangle not to undertake the trip irregularly and without documents in the United States.
However, the Biden government envoy said they are trying to find legal avenues for migration and that people do not take the risks of embarking on the perilous journey through Mexico to a border that at the moment it remains closed.
He will later travel to El Salvador
After his visit to Guatemala, Ricardo Zúñiga will travel to El Salvador. Although the details of the agenda are not yet known, it is known that the purpose of his visit is similar: to address the causes of irregular migration and to strengthen bilateral and regional commitments to democratic strengthening and the fight against corruption.
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His visit to El Salvador comes just days after President Nayib Bukele charged against Democratic Congresswoman Norma Torres, who has questioned his authoritarian conduct, which the U.S. executive has also pointed out. This has led to a condemnation by other Hispanic congressmen in the United States.
In addition, the Salvadoran government continues to be condemned for its attacks on the independent press and its lack of commitment to transparency. All of these areas have already been identified by Washington.