{UAH} IN GUATEMALA KAMALA HARRIS TELLS ILLEGALS THAT AMERICA IS FULL

In Guatemala, Harris tells undocumented migrants to stay away from US border

By

 The Bharat Express News

June 8, 2021

 

GUATEMALA CITY – On her first trip abroad as Vice President, Kamala Harris said the United States will step up investigations into corruption and human trafficking in Guatemala, while sending a clear message and direct to undocumented migrants hoping to reach the United States: “Don’t come.”

Ms Harris sounded the warning on a trip that was an early but crucial test for a vice president currently tasked with the complex challenge of breaking a cycle of migration from Central America by investing in a region plagued by crisis. corruption, violence and poverty.

As President Biden campaigned to lift some of the Trump administration’s border restrictions, allowing migrants to seek asylum at the U.S. border, Ms. Harris amplified the current White House position that most of those who crossed the border would be turned back and would instead need to find legal routes or protection closer to their country of origin.

She did not hesitate to use harsh language when it came to discussing corruption with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, who has been criticized for having a political agenda and for persecuting officials who fight corruption. .

“We will seek to eradicate corruption wherever it exists,” said Harris, adding that the administration would support an anti-corruption unit within the attorney general’s office. “This has been one of our highest priorities in terms of the focus we put here after the president asked me to take charge of this issue to focus on this region.”

Ms Harris, whose own presidential aspirations are clear, was asked by Mr Biden to invest in Central America to discourage vulnerable people from making the dangerous journey north. Mr. Biden was criticized by Republicans and some moderate Democrats in the early months of his tenure for the increasing number of unaccompanied minor crossings across the US-Mexico border.

The vice president’s main collaborators sought to differentiate her role from the political landmine of border management, saying instead that she focuses on working with foreign governments to strengthen the Central American economy and create more opportunities for people who now see flee to the United States. States as their best option.

Ms Harris on Monday announced new steps in the effort. The Biden administration will deploy internal security officers to Guatemala’s northern and southern borders to train local officials – a tactic similar to that used by previous administrations to deter migration. The state and justice departments will also establish a task force to investigate corruption cases linked to Guatemala and the United States, while training Guatemalan prosecutors.

“We had a very frank conversation about the importance of an independent judiciary,” Ms. Harris said. “We had a conversation about the importance of a strong civil society.”

The Biden administration also described a $ 48 million investment in entrepreneurship programs, affordable housing and farming businesses in Guatemala, as part of a four-year $ 4 billion plan to invest in the region. Last month, Ms. Harris touted the pledges of a dozen private companies, including Mastercard and Microsoft, to grow the economy in Central America.

But pending on these programs are questions of how to ensure that US aid reaches those who need it most, and not just contractors hired by the United States or Guatemalan officials.

In 2019, Guatemala kicked out a United Nations-backed anti-corruption group known as Cicig, which worked alongside Guatemalan prosecutors to bring corruption cases but was also accused by the country’s conservatives. to have a political program.

Ricardo Zúñiga, Biden’s special envoy to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, called these independent anti-corruption panels “very successful efforts”. But Ms Harris’s team did not say they believed Guatemala needed an independent entity to investigate corruption.

“The point is, there isn’t a specific model,” Zúñiga said. “It is about providing support to people in government, or within institutions, judicial institutions, mainly, who have the will and the capacity to move these issues forward.”

In her opening remarks, Ms Harris insisted on encouraging potential migrants to stay closer to home while seeking permission to enter the United States and awaiting responses. A few days earlier, his main collaborators announced their intention to establish a new center in Guatemala where people can learn about obtaining asylum protections or refugee status while in Central America, rather than get to the US border.

“Most people don’t want to leave where they grew up. Their grandmother. The place where they prayed. The place where their language is spoken, their culture is familiar, ”Ms. Harris said. “And when they leave, it usually has to do with two reasons: either they are running away from an evil or they just cannot meet their basic needs.”

In Chex Abajo, a mountainside village 250 km from Guatemala City, where Ms Harris spoke, Nicolás Ajanel Juárez, said her community was unable to afford such necessities, despite promises. made by various American presidents.

The village of indigenous corn farmers epitomizes the arduous task that awaits the Vice-President. Local leadership Juárez said many of the 600 residents saw their homes washed away by two hurricanes. The benefits of corn crops are no longer reliable as climate change has prolonged the dry season.

Many families in the village depend on remittances from relatives in the United States. Those whose standard of living has been raised by American wages have larger cement and iron houses, marked with stars and American flags. The main road to the village is called “Ohio” because of the number of migrants who have found work in landscaping in this state.

“It would be better if the help could come directly instead of going through the government, because that’s where it gets lost,” Juárez said against the music being played for a nearby ceremony commemorating a member of the community that entered the United States and died two years ago. . “The politicians don’t know because they don’t come here, to see the needs of the people with their own eyes.

After meeting Mr. Giammattei, Ms. Harris met with a group of women who have organized development programs for indigenous communities or training for those looking to acquire business skills.

But before that, she recognized the symbolic weight of being the first female vice president and making Guatemala her first foreign destination in that office. As a group of protesters holding placards opposing Ms Harris’ visit stood near an entrance to the military airport, a line of families, many of them women, stood alongside another fence in the hope of catching a glimpse of Air Force II as it landed in Guatemala.

“As long as I can make an impact based on my gender and whether I’m the first one, I welcome that,” Ms. Harris said, adding: “You can be the first to do it, but make sure. you not to the last one. “

Pedro Pablo Solares contributed reporting from Guatemala City.

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