US Senators Meet with Guatemalan President for Potential Investment

Guatemala City, July 9 (EFE). A group of six bipartisan senators met Friday with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giamatti to assess potential investments in the country and discuss anti-corruption. Among other things.

The meeting, which took place at the Presidential House, in the historic center of the Guatemalan capital, focused on investment opportunities and building the “walls of prosperity” that Giamatti spoke of in the past, with more investment, less immigration and no corruption. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the media.

“We are assessing how we can work together to make this wall of prosperity a reality. We seek to successfully stop the pandemic and that is why the US shipped 1.5 million vaccines on Thursday, plus the US is investing and trying to help Guatemala. We need to invest in companies to improve economy” in the Central American nation, said Kane, mission leader with Republican Rob Portman.

Another issue they discussed with Giamatti was the possibility of improving the Central American-US Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Republican senator noted, in order to “have better opportunities here, to have avocados and other products as well…technology, textiles and other topics.”

Kane (elected by Virginia) and Portman (Ohio) arrived in Guatemala Thursday for a two-day tour of the Central American country with four other senators: Democrats Chris Coons of Delaware and Ben Ray Logan of New Mexico and Republicans Mike Crabo (Idaho) and John Hoffin (North Dakota).

For his part, Crabo emphasized that “Giamatte stated that increased investment and trade with Guatemala is key to being able to resolve all the other issues we are discussing.”

Increasing US investment in Guatemala is something we can do, Crabo said, as well as “developing jobs for Guatemalans who often feel they need to look elsewhere for those opportunities,” a situation that “would enhance” security. Both countries.

deportation centers

Rob Portman also mentioned that Guatemala “would be an ideal country for people to apply for asylum in the US here” and cited the Returns Reception Center next to the Guatemalan Air Force (south of the capital), which opened this week, as an example of a good joint outcome.

“The immigration centers that are created give immigrants opportunities to apply their skills, whether it is a job, training or a process to improve the job, whether in the capital or in another city,” he said.

On Wednesday, Giamatti and the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mallorcas, opened the first of these centers, and announced that a similar center would soon open on the Tecón Uman border with Mexico, for former returnees. Earth.

According to information from the US Embassy in Guatemala, the six North American senators agreed to hold meetings with members of civil society and the local private sector, before withdrawing from the country on Friday.

In the United States, there are more than 3 million Guatemalans, most of them in an irregular situation, and at least 300,000 people each year try to reach the North American country without documents in search of better living conditions, according to the State Department and official figures.

Guatemala has a population of 16.3 million and 59% of them live below the poverty line, according to reports by international organizations. EFE

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