Mexico, City, Feb 6, (dpa/GNA) – The Trump administration has agreed to work more closely with Guatemala as part of its tough migration policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, after a meeting with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo in Guatemala City.
The Central American country has pledged to accept not only its own citizens deported from the United States, but also people of other nationalities.
The US will also be sending more deportation flights to Guatemala. The plan is for the Central American country to accept around 40% more flights with deported migrants of all nationalities, Rubio said.
“We will work out the details,” Rubio added.
Guatemala is a transit country for migrants heading for the US, and an area, where drug cartels are very active, with the country’s government looking to secure its borders more tightly.
According to Arévalo, a special unit is to be deployed on the country’s eastern border with Honduras and El Salvador.
On his first trip abroad as secretary of state, Rubio had previously visited Panama, El Salvador and Costa Rica. Officials he met in those countries also expressed their willingness to accept more migrants deported from the US.
After Guatemala, Rubio will travel on to the Dominican Republic, where talks will also centre on the issue of migration.
GNA