Guatemalan president rejects fresh asylum accord with America.
In Guatemala City's Heartbeat
Guatemala President Bernardo Arevalo put a damper on U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's post-meeting announcements, denying the signing of an asylum seeker agreement. There were whispers that the United States wanted Guatemala to take in asylum seekers from other countries, but it seems those rumors were baseless.
The duo had shaken hands on a joint security agreement on Thursday, a deal that would see U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers train local agents at Guatemala's airport to screen for suspected terrorists. Yet, Noem claimed to have a signed document—a so-called safe-third-country agreement—in her pocket, asserting similar deals were struck in Honduras and praised as vital outcomes of her trip.
When the alleged agreement was brought into question during a press conference the following day, Arevalo dodged the asylum-related bullet.He insisted that no new immigration-related deals had been inked, maintaining that Guatemala was still operating under the February agreement inked with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. That deal saw Guatemala continue accepting the deportation of its own citizens as well as those from other Central American nations, functioning as a waystation for their return.
Arevalo admitted a discussion about safe third country had transpired during Rubio's visit, but this wasn't a new concept for Guatemala, as they already had such an agreement in place during President Trump's term. However, he stressed that Guatemala's current approach veered away from traditional safe-third-country agreements signed back then.
Instead, Arevalo hinted that Guatemala was prepared to extend asylum to Nicaraguans faced with political turmoil as a show of solidarity. But it seems that Guatemala's door will remain firmly shut for other asylum seekers transferred from the United States. The president's communications office confirmed that Noem had been handed the ratification of the earlier agreement, which was already in motion through diplomatic notes.
Safe-third-country deals were a common sight during the Trump administration, with Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala all signing up to Send potentially ineligible asylum seekers to these nations deemed safe for them.
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[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/guatemalan-president-denies-signing-safe-third-country-agreement-us-2023-03-10/[2] https://www.apnews.com/article/world-business-guatemala-immigration-politics-united-states-afbe0506d56ecf2e56782f1ee9f9c77b[3] https://www.axios.com/guatemalan-president-noem-denies-signing-safe-third-country-agreement-c049b50e-fbf7-4e7d-95cd-1fd072027e25.html[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/world/americas/guatemala-deportation-asylum-us.html
- The denial by Guatemala's President Bernardo Arevalo of a safe-third-country agreement with the US points towards policy-and-legislation differences in immigration matters, a general-news topic.
- The immigration-related deal between Guatemala and the US, which was supposed to involve a joint security agreement, now appears to be on hold due to government negotiations, a significant point in politics.
- In a surprising move, Guatemala might extend asylum to Nicaraguans facing political instability, hinting at a shift in migration policies, war-and-conflicts, and culture dynamics.
- The ongoing negotiations between the US government and Guatemala over asylum seekers and safe-third-country agreements are closely monitored by the general-news media, with agencies like Reuters, AP News, Axios, and The New York Times covering the developments extensively.
