US senators urge Biden to “urgently review and update” relationship with Guatemala

A group of United States legislators led by the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Robert Menéndez, on Tuesday asked the State Department to “review and update” the approach to the policies of the Joe Biden Administration regarding Guatemala so that “corrupt officials” of that country are held accountable.

In a letter Sent this Tuesday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, eight legislators from the Upper House ask the Biden Administration to deny visas and “freeze economic assets and possessions in the United States” to officials of the Central American country responsible for undermining democracy and violating the State of law in that country.

“The efforts of President Alejandro Giammattei and his government to harass and persecute public officials, members of the press, and civil society organizations represent an alarming pattern of persecution of individuals trying to eradicate rampant corruption in Guatemala (…) the general response of the Biden Administration to these attacks against democracy and the rule of law as a whole has been insufficient, ”says the letter.

Among the signatory legislators are also members of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, who view the continued deterioration of Guatemalan democracy as “deeply concerning.”

That nearly 30 judges and justice operators from the Central American country have had to flee and go into exile in the United States in the face of harassment and persecution are proof -according to the letter- of human rights violations and attacks on democratic institutions.

They call on the Biden Administration to establish “clearly” that the United States’ relationship with Guatemala must be based on a “mutual and unwavering commitment” to protect democracy and the country’s institutions without exception.

“As long as senior Guatemalan officials are involved in corruption and other efforts to weaken the rule of law and the country’s democratic institutions, crime, drug trafficking, and instability will only increase,” the legislators consider.

If the situation is not corrected, it would lead -according to the text- to the fact that in the future the United States would be incapable of having a “productive relationship” with the Guatemalan government on issues as crucial as addressing the root causes of irregular migration from that country.

In an interview with the Spanish media The reason, published In recent January, President Alejandro Giammattei said that his administration has a “very productive” relationship with most of the United States agencies, except with “the central administration, we have the biggest problems with the State Department” because “it is difficult to understand them”.

He assured that even despite the constant accusations, Guatemala continues to be an ally of the United States. “We share the democratic principles under the order of the separation of powers and non-interference between them, exactly the same as them,” said the president.

And regarding the accusations of alleged corruption and links to organized crime by his government, he said that there is a lot to talk about because “there are many people in the world who should first wash their mouths before talking about another country.” .

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