By Evaristo Lara
Bernardo Arévalo, president of Guatemala, denied the version spread about an alleged agreement established with the US government to allow it to attack drug trafficking groups in Chapin territory.
According to a report published by the newspaper The New York TimesDuring a phone call on May 19 with Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, Bernardo Arévalo had allegedly agreed to strikes and other military operations to begin next month.
However, at a press conference, the Guatemalan president rejected this version, clarifying that his government only requested in writing “cooperation in operations directed by the Guatemalan security forces against drug trafficking organizations.”
“There is no agreement. There is a request, and said request is framed within the current agreements between both countries. These are types of collaboration that have already occurred in the past,” he stressed.
Since the start of Donald Trump’s second term at the head of the White House, one of the axes of his policy has been to put an end to the health crisis generated by drug trafficking with a final destination in the United States.
Based on this, in addition to pressuring Mexico to combat the Cartels that operate in its territory, the Republican implemented a permanent surveillance operation in Caribbean waters to stop the movement of drugs by sea.
From this, in a matter of weeks he managed to arrest and extradite former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro under the presumption of having identified him as the leader of the Cartel of the Suns.
Almost at the same time, it established an agreement with Ecuador to allow joint military actions in its territory aimed at confronting other organizations linked to drug trafficking.
In exchange, the troops of the South American country receive advice and assistance in raids and air attacks carried out against said criminal groups.
Under that perspective and derived from a visit carried out by Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, to Guatemala in February, the realization was strengthened that a similar agreement could have been sealed with the Chapín government.
Keep reading:
• Guatemala is experiencing a gang crisis despite the decrease in homicides announced by its president
• Guatemala began construction of a maximum security prison for gang members
