Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday the U.S. plans to support Guatemala with new infrastructure projects and to sign waivers on foreign aid to strengthen the United States’ partnership with the Central American country.
Speaking alongside Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo in a joint press conference, Rubio said he had signed “a letter of support” pledging full State Department cooperation on a partnership between Guatemala and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The initiative aims to “begin preliminary planning for the expansion” of “two new port facilities,” along with highway and railroad connections to position Guatemala as a regional trade hub and boost its economic opportunities.
“Today, I’ll be signing waivers on foreign aid that will continue that partnership, and hope to build on it,” Rubio told reporters.
Deportation flight
Guatemala has reached a new migration agreement with the United States and will accept more deportation flights, Arevalo announced Wednesday after talks with Rubio.
“In this framework, we have agreed to increase by 40% the number of flights of deportees” of Guatemalan nationals and “deportees from other nationalities” for repatriation, said the president through a translator.
He clarified that the “safe third country” was not discussed in title or content, emphasizing that the new arrangement with the U.S. ensures safe and humane conditions for repatriation.
Safe third country agreement
In 2019, former Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales signed an Asylum Cooperative Agreement, commonly known as the safe third country agreement, with the first Trump administration.
The agreement was seen as part of Trump’s strategy to curb the flow of migrants to the United States.
In 2021, the Biden administration fulfilled a campaign promise and suspended the agreement, which allowed the U.S. to deny asylum seekers at the border and deport them to a designated third country, where they would be required to apply for asylum.
Critics argued that the policy exposed asylum seekers to unsafe conditions.
