Guatemalan president says he’s optimistic of finding common ground with Trump

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo said Wednesday he anticipates issues like immigration will generate tension with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, but the former peacebuilder also sees shared interests.

At the start of the second year of his presidency, Arévalo said in an interview with The Associated Press that Guatemala is "one of the United States' few trusted partners" in the region.

For example, Arévalo pointed out that in the first year of his presidency, Guatemala seized more than double the amount of drugs compared to the previous year.

"We mustn't assume that it will be a relationship that turns dramatic," he said. "I believe the conditions exist to be optimistic about what we can become."

It's indeed optimistic considering Trump has already threatened the United States' largest trading partners with tariffs and promised mass deportations that could hit Guatemala particularly hard.

But Central America has been a challenge for the United States in recent years.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration saw Guatemala's deep-rooted corruption as a major driver of emigration under Arévalo's predecessor. Honduras President Xiomara Castro recently suggested there's no longer justification for a significant U.S. military presence in her country. And Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega expresses his disgust with all things Yankee at every opportunity.

But during Trump's first term, immigration dominated his administration's relationships in the region. Human rights and corruption received little attention if countries were perceived to be working to decrease migrant flows to the U.S. border.

Trump's team negotiated so-called "safe third country" agreements, including in Guatemala, as a way to keep asylum seekers from other nations from reaching the U.S. border during his first term.

"We believe that the 'safe third country' configuration was absolutely inadequate and that the answer to the challenges that are coming now with the immigration issue must be considered regionally," Arévalo said. "We are not a safe third country, nobody has proposed it."

He said Guatemala has other proposals on immigration that they are prepared to bring into negotiations with the U.S., but not until those talks begin.

Regarding the mass deportations promised by Trump, Arévalo announced Tuesday a plan to receive Guatemalans and assist their reintegration into the country. However, mass deportations would be a major hit to Guatemala's economy.

Remittances - the money migrants send back to Guatemala - account for about 20% of the country's gross domestic product.

In preparation, Guatemala is increasing its U.S. consulates' resources and developing a phone application that would share information with migrants about possible immigration enforcement raids and legal assistance.

On Wednesday, Arévalo also spoke with his Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum about the need for economic development along their shared border to generate employment for potential or returning migrants. Mexico is making similar preparations to receive deportees.

They also discussed the possibility of Mexican consulates in the U.S. assisting Guatemalans, though Arévalo said it was just an idea under consideration.

"It's a tragedy that men and women of all ages find it necessary to abandon their communities, their families, their homes, to try to make ends meet, because in (Guatemala) they don't find work, development," Arévalo said.

High-level diplomats from across the region were scheduled to meet in Mexico Thursday and Friday to discuss ways to address immigration.

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