U.S. to unveil human trafficking steps; Harris visits Guatemala
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[June 07, 2021]
By Nandita Bose
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - The United
States is expected on Monday to announce steps to tackle human
trafficking and smuggling in Guatemala, a senior U.S. official said, as
Vice President Kamala Harris visits the region to try to lower migration
from Central America's Northern Triangle countries.
Harris' trip to Guatemala and Mexico this week is likely to emphasize
cooperation with non-government organizations, amid some criticism from
local officials over the timing and thrust of her mission to curb
migration to the United States from the region, advisers and experts
said.
The focus on civil society could be a sore point in Mexico, which sent a
diplomatic note to Washington in May complaining about U.S. support for
a group that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador considers to be part
of the political opposition.
Speaking as Harris flew to Guatemala, a senior U.S. official said that
in addition to announcing the steps to combat human trafficking, the
Biden administration hoped on Monday to unveil anti-corruption measures
in the Central American nation.
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The vice president's first overseas trip since taking office, which
began on Sunday, will focus on economic development, climate and food
insecurity and women's issues, White House officials say.
Harris's advisers said she will meet community leaders, workers and
entrepreneurs, and have sought to lower short-term expectations from the
three-day trip, highlighting her focus on root causes for migration such
as corruption that have plagued the countries for years.
Harris landed in Guatemala on Sunday and was to fly to Mexico on Tuesday
where she will spend the day. "This trip is not about having a fully
fleshed out plan for the region...but hopefully understanding what the
direction is," Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy
Institute, who participated in a meeting Harris convened about problems
in the region.
A key measure of success for Harris's trip will be whether she can show
that the United States cares about creating legal pathways for migration
from the region, Selee said.
After President Joe Biden took office in January, the number of migrants
taken into custody by U.S. agents per month on the Mexican border rose
to the highest levels in 20 years. In March, Biden tasked Harris with
lowering migration from the 'Northern Triangle' countries- Guatemala,
Honduras and El Salvador.
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![](../images/060721pics/news_b3.jpg)
Vice President Kamala Harris and Guatamala's Foreign Minister Pedro
Brolo wave upon her arrival at Guatemalan Air Force Central Command
in Guatemala City, Guatemala, for her first international trip as
Vice President to Guatemala and Mexico, June 6, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos
Barria
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Since then, Harris has met with civil society
leaders, announced additional aid of $310 million for the region,
and secured investment commitments from companies included
Microsoft. The Biden administration has also committed to sharing
vaccines with both countries.
Mazin Alfaqih, a special adviser to Harris for the Northern Triangle
region, told reporters on June 1 the administration understands that
foreign assistance alone can not tackle the problems in the region.
"We hope that the vice president's first visit shows that she, and
the United States, are standing with the people and communities
organizing for change, and not with corrupt and abusive government
officials," said Lisa Haugaard, co-director of the Latin America
Working Group, another participant in the Harris meeting.
In May, some Central American leaders pushed back on the Biden
administration's anti-corruption strategy, which included releasing
a list labeling 17 regional politicians as corrupt. Mexico's
diplomatic note in May asked the United States to suspend financial
backing for Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI), a group
Lopez Obrador says seeks to undermine his government.
Harris Mexico visit comes as Mexicans elect a new lower house of
Congress, state governors and local lawmakers, in a race seen as a
referendum on Lopez Obrador's efforts to shake up the country's
institutions.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Mexican government official
said the timing of Harris's visit was not ideal and, expected the
Mexican government to keep the talks low-key as the results of its
biggest ever elections were processed.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose; Additional reporting by Frank Jack
Daniel in Mexico City and by Ted Hesson and Dave Graham in
Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell, Peter Cooney and Diane Craft)
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