March 25 (UPI) — Vice President Kamala Harris announced a series of commitments aimed at addressing the root causes of migration from Guatemala as she was set to meet with the country’s new president on Monday afternoon.
Harris and Guatemala’s recently sworn-in President Bernardo Arevalo will discuss recent achievements in the United States-Guatemala relationship, irregular migration ongoing from and through the central American country right underneath Mexico, and topics related to “creating good jobs, responsive governance, and opportunities for Guatemalans to invest in their own communities,” according to a White House statement.
The vice president will pledge an additional $170 million in economic support for the country of just over 17 million for security assistance, economic, health and development as part of the Biden administration’s “Root Causes Strategy,” which is part of ongoing efforts to aid Guatemala on a number of different issues with the goal of addressing reasons behind migration.
Harris will unveil a $50 million initiative with the Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs which will aim to “bolster the rule of law in security and justice institutions.”
Partnering with the U.S. Peace Corps, Harris will also announce the creation of the Central American Service Corps. The new branch plans to engage nearly 3,000 young people who are most at risk of migrating by engaging them with various programs aimed at keeping them in their native country. The White House said the CASC could in the next five years reach up to 25,000 young Guatemalans.
The meeting between Arevalo and Harris touches on immigration as the 2024 U.S. presidential election gets in full swing as the Biden administration has targeted corruption in Guatemala as an important factor in immigration of Central Americans into the United States. The United States will commit support for legal and other regulatory reforms to counter known extortion at maritime or airport locations.
In addition, U.S. officials plan to be in Guatemala in the coming months “to support clean energy and infrastructure development, facilitate private sector operations and promote sustainable economic development.” As well as expand commerce by promoting workers’ rights and offering other technical assistance to encourage foreign trade, and other “climate smart” agriculture initiatives.
Along with new programming with USAID to promote and preserve Guatemalan conservation, the two countries hope to further advance women’s rights by launching a legal reform fund project that will reduce barriers for women trying to compete in the workplace along with other initiatives targeted toward helping women.
And $1.5 million will be earmarked to help aid marginalized communities to “ensure public policies are inclusive and to promote greater accountability to public interests.”
