Tag: Guatemala

Guatemala President: White House’s ‘Confusing’ Border Statements Being Hijacked by Human Smugglers

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said that drug cartel-backed human smugglers have exploited messaging from Biden administration officials and have ramped up their operations in sending people to the U.S.-Mexico border. “I’m nobody to make a judgment here, but I believe in the first weeks in the Biden administration, messages were confusing,” Giammattei said in an…


Guatemalan President: White House’s ‘Confusing’ Messages Exploited by Smugglers

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei says that drug cartel-backed human smugglers have exploited messaging from Biden administration officials and have ramped up their operations in sending people to the U.S.–Mexico border. “I’m nobody to make a judgment here, but I believe in the first weeks in the Biden administration, messages were confusing,” Giammattei said in an…


Guatemala: No Deal With US on Increased Border Security

Guatemala’s government on Tuesday challenged an assertion from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration that it agreed to surge troops to its borders to make migration to the United States more difficult. “There is no document signed” regarding border security, the government said in a Spanish language statement. White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed Monday…


Guatemala Declares Emergency Measures as New Caravan Rumored

GUATEMALA CITY—Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei decreed a “state of prevention” Monday along the country’s border with Honduras, amid reports that a new migrant caravan may be forming in Honduras. The emergency decree would restrict open-air gatherings and demonstrations without permits, and will be in effect for two weeks in the five Guatemalan provinces along the…


Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants Found in Trucks Near Mexico-Guatemala Border

Mexican authorities said on March 19 that hundreds of illegal immigrants, including unaccompanied minors, were discovered crammed in three tractor-trailer trucks near the Mexico-Guatemala border. During routine checks, Mexican migration agents along with National Guard police found 329 Guatemalans and Hondurans, including 114 unaccompanied minors, in the vehicles. The tractor-trailer trucks were stopped on a…


Kosovo Follows US, Guatemala in Opening Embassy in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM—Kosovo opened its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem on Sunday, joining the United States and Guatemala as the only countries with embassies in a city whose status is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Muslim-majority Kosovo promised to locate its embassy in Jerusalem when it established diplomatic ties with Israel last year under U.S….


Guatemala Woman, 23, Among 13 Killed in California Crash

EL CENTRO, Calif.—One of the 13 people killed when the SUV smuggling them into California hit a tractor-trailer was a 23-year-old woman who was fleeing violence in Guatemala for the hope of a better life, family members said. Yesenia Magali Melendrez Cardona had told her father she wanted to follow in his footsteps and go…


‘Pursuit of Justice’ Leads to Extradition in 1994 Santa Ana Gang Shooting

The Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office has extradited and charged a man from Guatemala in connection with the fatal shooting of a rival gang member 26 years ago. “The pursuit of justice never ends,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a Feb. 5 press release. “No matter how long it takes or how far…


Some 9,000 Honduran Migrants Cross North Into Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY—Guatemalan authorities estimated Saturday that as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants had crossed into Guatemala as part of an effort to form a new caravan to reach the U.S. border. Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei issued a statement calling on Honduran authorities “to contain the mass exit of its inhabitants.” The migrants pushed past about…


Guatemala Tries to Block Caravan of 9,000 Honduran Migrants Headed for US

GUATEMALA CITY—Guatemalan soldiers blocked part of a caravan of as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants Saturday at a point not far from where they entered the country seeking to reach the U.S. border. The soldiers, many wearing helmets and wielding shields and sticks, formed ranks across a highway in Chiquimula, near the Honduras border, to…