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Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo connected Thursday (May 28, 2026) denied the beingness of an statement with the United States (U.S.) to behaviour anti-drug trafficking operations connected Guatemalan soil.
The comments travel after The New York Times reported that the Central American federation agreed to transportation retired associated strikes.
The lawsuit is the latest successful ongoing tensions betwixt the U.S. President Donald Trump medication and Latin American governments that question to onslaught a equilibrium betwixt bilateral practice to combat cause trafficking and maintaining sovereignty.
“There is nary agreement. There is simply a petition that falls wrong the model of existing agreements successful respective countries,” Mr. Arevalo said astatine a quality conference.
“What we are signing are types of collaboration that person been taking spot successful the past. We behaviour maritime interdictions wherever the United States has been collaborating with training, capableness gathering and equipment,” Mr. Arevalo said.
He said the government's actions are successful accordance with Guatemalan instrumentality and the Constitution.
“The lone assemblage that tin authorise operations involving soldiers connected Guatemalan ungraded is the Congress of the Republic. The Guatemalan authorities is not requesting this practice and has nary plans to bash so,” Mr. Arevalo said.
When asked astir the expected agreement, acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez said helium cannot “speculate connected aboriginal operations oregon sermon matters of operational security” but emphasised that the Department of War works with partners successful the portion to combat cause trafficking and different transnational threats.
The Guatemalan authorities besides published a property merchandise and 2 letters successful which its defence curate discusses combined subject operations nether pre-existing agreements with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The April deaths of 2 The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents successful bluish Mexico aft an cognition to destruct a cause laboratory highlighted the beingness of U.S. agents successful Latin America and raised questions astir heightened U.S. engagement passim the region. In the days following, Mexican officials offered contradictory accounts connected however overmuch accusation the state had regarding the CIA agents' involvement.
The Mexican authorities acknowledges the beingness of U.S. agencies connected Mexican territory but says that they cannot enactment successful on-the-ground operations.
