© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pays her respects to the victims of the 2018 faculty taking pictures at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive College on the memorial on the campus after assembly with their households in Parkland, Florida, U.S. March 23, 2024.
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By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris hosted Guatemala’s president, Bernardo Arevalo, on the White Home on Monday to bolster his fledgling authorities and talk about the way to cut back migration from Central America.
Harris’s assembly underscores U.S. assist for the brand new, reform-minded president, whose inauguration was delayed in January by opponents in search of to weaken his authority.
At the beginning of their assembly, Harris mentioned the U.S. “was proud to face with you, Mr. President, following a free and honest election and all through your transition,” including that the “will of the individuals of Guatemala, by our remark, has triumphed.”
Immigration has turn out to be a sizzling button concern in President Joe Biden’s and Harris’s 2024 re-election marketing campaign, with Republicans charging the administration with mishandling spikes in numbers of latest immigrants crossing the U.S. border.
The White Home accuses Republicans, led by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, with torpedoing a bipartisan invoice that may have tightened border enforcement.
Republicans labeled Harris a failed “border czar” after Biden charged her with spearheading efforts to deal with the causes of migration from nations in Central America which have contributed to the rise in immigrant inflows.
Harris and Arevalo mentioned how the US can assist Guatemala’s corruption combat, strengthen human rights, and enhance the financial system.
“I view this as a historic second in relations between our two nations, which share primary values and customary pursuits and confront many joint challenges,” Arevalo mentioned as they met.
They mentioned Arevalo’s outreach to indigenous individuals and the prioritization of efforts to cut back what the official referred to as “irregular migration” to the US.
Harris introduced $1 billion in new monetary commitments from firms which might be a part of a public-private partnership program to spend money on Central America, bringing the entire to greater than $5.2 billion since Might 2021. They embody a dedication by Meta (NASDAQ:) to coach younger individuals and small enterprise house owners in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
She additionally “recommended Guatemala’s assist for different democracies all over the world,” the White Home mentioned in a press release in regards to the assembly, with out giving particulars.
Guatemala is likely one of the few nations that maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China.