The agreement was signed by the president of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, and the interim US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, who is in the country on a surprise visit.
Guatemala and the United States signed a cooperation agreement this Sunday to combat drug and migrant trafficking, in the midst of an exodus of Guatemalans to the North American country that has worsened in recent months.
The agreement was initialed by the president of Guatemala, Jimmy Moralesand the interim US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, who is in the country on a surprise visit.
The high-ranking US official arrived in Guatemala in the afternoon and went to the National Palace of Culturein the historic center of the capital, for a brief meeting with Morales.
The Minister for the Interior, Enrique DegenhartHe told journalists that the agreement will increase the capacity of Guatemalan forces to attack criminal structures that traffic migrants.
"The exchange of information and good practices, as well as the criminal prosecution that we are going to carry out together, should allow us as countries to prevent this abuse of our (migrant) population from continuing," he said.
Según detalló Degenhart, the agreement establishes the sending of researchers to tackle this problemas well as fighting drug trafficking, trafficking in firearms and money laundering.
It is hoped that working together will make it possible to "more efficient and effective investigations against organized crime", said the minister.
Sources close to the subject have unofficially indicated that McAleenan will meet on March with the interior ministers of the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, made up of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.s, to analyze irregular migration from these countries to the United States.
Since October, the north of Central America has been the source of a migratory caravans with thousands of people seeking to reach the United States and escape the violence and poverty in their countries.
Last night, the body of the fifth migrant child from Guatemala who died in the custody of the US border patrol since December was repatriated.