Seoul Gazette - Guatemala promises surge in deportation flights, courting Rubio

President Bernardo Arevalo, who has been undermined by an elite that has connections to US conservatives, promised to allow a 40 percent increase in flights repatriating Guatemalans, addressing a key priority for President Donald Trump, Rubio announced.

"We're not just neighbors. We're allies -- we're friends -- and I think that will be evidenced by the work that we've done here," Rubio told a joint news conference with Arevalo.

He also said that the US Army Corps of Engineers would visit Guatemala to help develop plans for a more modern port.

A former senator, Rubio is a Cuban-American and fierce opponent of Latin American leftists who has quickly sought in his new role to bolster US relationships with the region's conservatives.

Arevalo is no ideological soulmate but he has been eager to avoid friction with the new Trump administration.

He told Rubio that he was committed to work "comprehensively and jointly to guarantee regional stability, the dignity of our peoples and the security of our countries."

Guatemala, a major source of migration, quickly accepted military flights bringing back their deported citizens in shackles, and Rubio said Arevalo recommitted to taking in nationals from third countries.

The approach is a stark contrast to Colombia, whose leftist leader pleaded for better treatment for deportees but backed down after Trump threatened massive tariffs in retaliation.

- Praise for Guatemalan democracy -

A sociologist and former diplomat born in exile after a US-backed 1954 coup, Arevalo is the son of a former president and pulled off a surprise victory in 2023 on a platform of reform and rooting out corruption in one of the region's poorest countries.

Arevalo immediately faced pushback from Guatemala's entrenched conservative elite which sought to prevent him from taking office.

Right-wing parties made allegations of electoral fraud, without providing evidence, and found support in Washington from elements of Trump's "Stop the Steal" movement that refused to acknowledge his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden.

Rubio, however, offered full backing to Arevalo and said that they discussed the value of democracy over a dinner Tuesday in Guatemala City's old town.

"I would like to commend you for your commitment to democracy and to institutions," Rubio said.

- Solidarity on Taiwan -

Guatemala also appeals to the Trump administration as it is the most populous country that still recognizes Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by China.

"It's not easy in a world where there is a lot of pressure to change that recognition and break those ties, but you have always stood firm," Rubio said.

Rubio, a longtime hawk on China, said that the United States will "do all we can to facilitate more Taiwanese investment in the economy of Guatemala."

Guatemala is one of the largest origins of migration to the United States after decades of poverty, violence and political instability.

The United States under previous administrations sought to address the root causes of migration through on-the-ground support.

However, the Trump administration on Tuesday said it was sending home nearly all officers around the world from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which invested some $178 million to projects in Guatemala in 2023.

Rubio defended the decision, despite a furor from anti-poverty advocates who say that people will die, and Democratic lawmakers in Washington who say that the United States is ceding leadership to China.

Rubio said the Trump administration would maintain foreign assistance but have a review "from the bottom up" to see which programs meet the US national interest.

He will head late Wednesday to the Dominican Republic, whose president, Luis Abinader, has championed a Trump-style hard line on chronically unstable and impoverished Haiti, including by starting work on a wall and ramping up deportations.

S.Seo--SG