Guatemala's migrant pact with the U.S. threatens to unleash a political crisis
Source: Washington Post
Guatemala’s migrant pact with the U.S. threatens to unleash a political crisis
By Mary Beth Sheridan July 27 at 10:36 PM
MEXICO CITY — In pressuring Guatemala to accept a deal to absorb vast numbers of asylum seekers, the Trump administration has embarked on a dramatic and risky strategy to slash the number of Central Americans flooding the U.S. border.
The accord — which was negotiated in secret and signed at the White House on Friday — could plunge Guatemala’s young democracy into a constitutional crisis, analysts warn. It could also saddle one of the hemisphere’s poorest countries with tens of thousands of Salvadoran and Honduran migrants who would be barred from making their claims in the United States.
The agreement is one of the boldest steps yet taken by President Trump to stanch the flow of migrants to the U.S. border. It aims to close off the U.S. asylum system to the migrants who have crossed through Guatemala en route to the United States. They would instead have to seek protection in Guatemala.
But the agreement is built on a fragile political and legal base. The Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled earlier this month that President Jimmy Morales needed approval from the Guatemalan Congress to sign the accord, something he has not received. Morales has sharply criticized the court decision, saying Friday that “as far as we understand, this doesn’t have to go before Congress.”
Some analysts said Morales could get around the ruling with his argument that the deal is simply a cooperation agreement, not a treaty. Others note Morales has at times simply shrugged off court rulings he dislikes.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/guatemalas-migrant-pact-with-the-us-threatens-to-unleash-a-political-crisis/2019/07/27/8a68940c-b080-11e9-9411-a608f9d0c2d3_story.html
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