The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, and José W. Fernández, undersecretary of Economic Growth, Energy and Environment of the United States, accompanied by their respective delegations, met at the beginning of this week to outline a route that will allow them to generate economic growth for the Central American country in the first “high-level economic dialogue.” The work route that both Governments outlined to collaborate over the next four years includes five axes: fight against corruption and good governance, agriculture and food security, investment by renewable energy companies and expansion of electrification coverage throughout the country, promotion of investments through the first Competition Law and the use of remittances for local development.
“The relationship between the United States and Guatemala is going through a very special moment,” Arévalo said during the inauguration of the activity at the National Palace of Culture in the Guatemalan capital. “The efforts (…) to resist attempts to violate the elections and betray the will freely expressed at the polls were clearly and forcefully supported by the government of the United States of America,” he added.
Fernández's visit to the Central American country precedes that of the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, who will travel to Guatemala this Wednesday to meet with Arévalo and “participate in bilateral meetings with his Guatemalan counterparts, following the trilateral ministerial meeting on migration held on last month with Mexico,” as reported by that department in a statement.
In addition, a meeting is scheduled for next Monday in Washington between Bernardo Arévalo and the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, where the commitment to supporting good governance, democracy, inclusive development will be “underlined” and the root causes will be addressed. of migration from the Central American country.
The role of the US Government was fundamental for the inauguration last January of President Arévalo. The United States sanctioned some 400 Guatemalans, including deputies, businessmen, prosecutors and judges for trying to “undermine democracy.” In addition, it stopped the cooperation of several security, health and agricultural programs that it had with Guatemala due to the uncertainty that prevailed for almost six months that the complicated presidential transition lasted.
“There are very few dialogues of this type in our hemisphere (and) they mark the promise of a very special point in the bilateral relationship. This election of President Arévalo and Vice President Herrera has raised great hopes for the population,” commented Undersecretary Fernández at a press conference at the end of the dialogue.
Fernández indicated that representatives of 12 agencies interested in the Guatemalan market traveled with him. And he explained that it has been difficult for businessmen to invest in that country due to the corruption embedded in the State, but that with the new Arévalo Government and the commitment it has to fight against this “cancer”, as the US Undersecretary described it, it is They open the doors to attract that capital.
In mid-January, a delegation of senior state officials attending the presidential inauguration announced in the first days of the new Administration the resumption of programs run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). English) and promised to expand financing.
Last week the vice president of Guatemala, Karin Herrera, was in New York for three days to discuss issues related to women. While President Arévalo participated in Guatemala in a forum with the Council of the Americas (Americas Society/Council of the Americas) and with businessmen from the northern nation to address inclusive economic growth. There he stated that both governments are at the “historical threshold” of their relations.
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